UNIVERSITY ORIENTAL STUDIES 
| Vol. XXVIII : 


q OF THE DRUZE PEOPLE 
AND RELIGION 


WITH EXTRACTS» 


BY 


PHILIP K. HITTI, PuD. 


ng PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 


ee Aew York 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 
7 1928 


BAL Hal: 


Photostatic reproduction of the first page of Baha’-al-Din’s al-Juz’al-Awwal, 

one of the most valuable Druze sacred books by the father of Druze theology. 

This manuscript copy is in the Robert Garrett collection deposited in the 
library of Princeton University. 


~ 


jMileve rl ines Bak 


Photostatic reproduction of the first page of Hamzah’s al-Naqd al-Khafi, 
the most important production of the founder of the Druze religion. This 


manuscript copy is in the Robert Garrett collection deposited in the library 
of Princeton University. 


\y 


FOREWORD 


OR some nine hundred years, a strange national-religious 

’ body has lived in Syria. The Druzes have been the wonder 
of scholars, and the political opponents of those to whom the 
country in which they lived belonged. All sorts of theories have 
been advanced by scholars to account for their peculiar tenets 
and customs. All sorts of means have been tried by their over- 
lords to put them down. The scholars have been as unsuccessful 
as have been the overlords; and the Druzes still remain the great 
mystery of the Lebanon Mountains. 

In the following study, a more serious attempt is made to 
solve the riddle of whom the Druzes are, why they are, and 
where they are. Professor Hitti is probably better fitted to make 
this attempt than is any other scholar. Born in the Lebanon 
Mountains, Arabic is his native.tongue. As a boy, and as a young 
man, he associated with the Druzes. He has had, and still has, 
~ access to their literature. It is likely that he knows more about 
them than they do about themselves. For this reason, I commend 
the following pages very highly to the attention of all who are 
concerned about Syria, and who are interested in the history 
of religion. 

RICHARD GOTTHEIL 


ee 


PREDAGE 


HIS study is based on two papers: one presented in the 
annual meeting of the American Historical Association, 
held at Rochester, New York, December 30, 1926; and the 
other in the annual meeting of the American Oriental Society, 
held at Cincinnati, Ohio, April 20, 1927. The thanks of the 
author are due to Professor Dana C. Munro, President of the 
American Historical Association; to Professor James A. Mont- — 
gomery, President of the American Oriental Society; and to 
Professor Harold H. Bender, Chairman of the Department of 
Oriental Languages and Literatures at Princeton University, for 
many valuable suggestions and criticisms. He also wishes to 
acknowledge with thanks the assistance he received from his 
wife in verifying references, reading the proofs, and sketching 
the map inserted in this book. 


PRINCETON, May, 1928. P.K.H. 


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EABLE OF CONTENTS 


Two Facsimile Pages from Druze Manuscripts 
Foreword (by Editor of the Studies) 
SE a ees ao) hid we gd a dela)! erie: el Robes cee V 


CHAPTER I 
A UNIQUE AND SECRET SECT 


Two Historical Fossils—Relation to World Events—Minor Episodes— 
Other Secret Sects—Special Interest of this Study . ....... I-4 


CHAPTER II 
SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT 
Feudal Organization—Part Played during the Crusades—The Druze 
Power at its Height—Banu-Shihab, the Last Feudal Chiefs—Druzes 


and Christians Grouped in Political Rather than Religious Parties— 
mmeviL War OF S60 sis eee ee e's REE PRI, 5-9 


CHAPTER III 
RACIAL ORIGINS 
Number and Distribution—Religious and Racial Boundaries Coter- 
minous—Silence of Historians—Travelers’ and Scholars’ Accounts— 
Criticism of the Arabian Theory—Diverse Hypotheses—Supposed 


Relationship with the French and British and with Freemasonry— 
MME ETICIeG wt ln 5 gk e's ee tw Be a acta eure 10-17 


CHAPTER IV 
THE PERSIAN ORIGIN OF THE DRUZES 
The Persian Nucleus at Wadi-al-Taym—The Founders of Druzism All 


Persian—The Testimony of Religious Vocabulary—Names of 
Feudal Families—Persian Tribes Transplanted into Syria .... -» 18-23 


CHAPTER V 
DRUZE THEOLOGY AND ITS SOURCES 
I. THE PROBLEM WITH ITS DIFFICULTIES 
Various Hypotheses—Period of Concealment—Manuscripts—The His- 
ENE ai gg iy fala sR lam Tele s! goed wie ge) taltoay Tp ye 24-26 
Il. THE HAKIM-GOD 
Whimsical ‘Character of al-Hakim—His Deification—Al-Hakim as the 
Messiah—A Series of Divine Incarnations —The Disappearance and 
Triumphal Return of al-Hakim—Indo-Iranian Influences—Unitarians 26-34 
Il. FIVE DIVINE MINISTERS AND THREE INFERIOR ONES 
The Process of Emanation —The Neo-Platonic Source—Inferior Ministers 34-37 


IV. THE PROPHETIC SUCCESSION eee 
Seven Major Prophets—Seven a Sacred Number—Excellenc 
System—Adam—Jesus - ss ee ee ee eee ee 


che hig MEANING 


CHAPTER VI 
DOGMAS AND PRECEPTS 
I. TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS 


Method of Operation—Earlier Moslem Sects Believing i in 
tion—Relation to China i.e “a 8 re Re Ss pre te sey 


Il. ee daigedanleeatiag’ AND DISSIMULATION 


Ill. THE CULT OF THE CALF Pale 
The Fact—Its Interpretation ....... BD) . 


IV. SEVEN PRECEPTS OF HAMZAH ieee 
Eight Dogmas—Hamzah’s Precepts—Sources any Oper 


CHAPTER VII 
FOLKLORE 


APPENDIX A—COVENANT OF INDUCTION INTO THE 15 RELIGION 
RULER OF THE AGE « - = 2 s.s 


APPENDIX B—AL-HAKIM’s ORDINANCE PROHIBITING 


APPENDIX E—EXCERPT FROM 
CHRISTIANITY e e e e e e © . « ee 


CHAPTER I 


Pee tOUL AND SECRET SECT 


Two Historical Fossils: —The Druzes of Syria and the Samari- 
tans of Palestine are two unique communities not to be found 
elsewhere in the whole world. Like social fossils in an alien en- 
vironment, these two peoples have survived for hundreds of years 
in that land rightly described as a “ Babel of tongues” and a 
“ museum of nationalities.” 

The Samaritans are the remnants of the tribes from Assyria and 
Persia who were transplanted by Sargon some seven hundred 
years before Christ to take the place of the “ten tribes” who 
were carried into captivity.! They figured in the life of Christ as 
is illustrated by the case of the “ Samaritan woman ” and the story 
of the “ good Samaritan.” Today they are represented by about 
one hundred and eighty persons who intermarry among them- 
selves and are becoming rapidly extinct. Their habitat is modern 
Nablus (biblical Shechem), and their religion is ancient Judaism 
mixed with pagan survivals. 

The Druzes have no such clear record to show regarding their 
origin as a people and as a sect. Their ethnographical origins, no 
less than their ritual practices and religious beliefs, are shrouded 
in mystery. Appearing for the first time on the pages of history at 
Wadi-al-Taym near Mt. Hermon in anti-Lebanon, as professors of 
the divinity of the sixth Fatimite Caliph in Cairo (996—1020 A.D.), 
the Druzes have lived their semi-independent lives secluded in 
their mountain fastnesses of Lebanon, unmindful of the progress 
of the world around them, and almost entirely forgotten by the 
outside world. 3 


1 Cf. James A. Montgomery, The Samaritans, the Earliest Jewish Sect (Phi- 
ladelphia, 1907), pp. 46-57. 
Hitti. : 


— Pd — 


Relation to World Events: —The few occasions throughout their 
history in which the Druzes attracted international attention were 
first at the time of the Crusades, when they were entrusted by 
the Moslems with the military task of guarding the maritime plain 
against the Franks. They then fought under the banner of Islam 
and took part in the attacks against the garrisons of Belfort 
(Qal' at al-Shagif) and of Montfort (Qal'at Qurayn) in Galilee. 
Secondly, in the early seventeenth century when their great leader, 
Fakhr-al-Din II (1585-1635), under whom the Druze power 
reached its zenith, appeared as a refugee from the Sultan of Turkey 
in the court of the Medicis at Florence. Thirdly, when as a result 
of their civil wars in 1860 with their Christian neighbors to the 
north—the Maronites—the French landed a contingent of troops 
to quell the disturbance which resulted in giving the Lebanon 
a complete autonomy recognized by the great Powers of Europe. 
And fourthly, in connection with the recent armed uprising against 
the French mandate in Syria. 

Minor Episodes: —In the local history of Syria and the Lebanon, 
the Druzes have always figured as a compact and warlike com- 
munity contriving to enjoy in the fastnesses of their mountain 
a comparative degree of security and independence. The Latin 
Kingdom of the Crusades, which with its extensive fiefs formed 
an elongated strip of land based on the sea and widening on the 
north to Edessa and on the south to Moab, narrowed in the 
vicinity of Mt. Hermon, the home of the Druzes. Throughout 
the Ottoman period (1516-1918) the Druzes and their fellow 
mountaineers, the Maronites, constituted a thorn in the side of 
the Turks. The Lebanon enjoyed most of the time local autonomy. 
Even the Druzes of Hawran, the Bashan of the Bible, were not 
subject to conscription, and repeatedly refused to pay taxes to 
the Sublime Porte. When Napoleon in 1798—1799 invaded Egypt 
and Syria, he sought the aid of the governor of the Lebanon, 
al-Amir Bashir. The Druze resistance to the invasion of the 
Egyptian army under Ibrahim Pasha (1831-1838), was one of 
the factors in hastening the withdrawal of that army from Syrian 
soil. | 


—s 3 — 


Other Secret Sects: —The Druze people constitute one of the 
two leading secret sects found only in Syria, the other being the 
Nusayriyyah inhabiting the mountains north of Tripoli. The 
Isma ‘iliyyah of the Hims and Hamah district, another secret sect, 
are descended from the Assassins,! who for two centuries or so 
struck awe and terror into the hearts of the Crusaders, and are 
represented today by a few other sectarians in Persia and India. 
The Yezidis, so-called devil worshipers, practice their hidden 
rites in the out-of-the-way hills between Antioch and Aleppo 
and have coreligionists in Kurdistan and Armenia. 

Special Interest of this Study:—But of all these sects Druzism is 
perhaps the most interesting and important. It is still a living 
force. Its followers form to the present day a vigorous and 
flourishing community in the Lebanon. Its learned system has 
not changed since it was first inaugurated in the early part of 
the eleventh century. The Islam of the Near East has changed 
and adapted itself to the requirements of the varying conditions. 
The Christianity of the Near East has changed. But the Druze 
system has been and still is the same. 

The modernizing influence has in late years brought within its 
sphere quite a large number of the young and uninitiated Druzes. 
The report of the American University of Beirtt for last year 
indicates that there are in that institution alone thirty-six Druze 
students and five Druze teachers. But no one with first-hand 
knowledge of the situation would go so far as even to recognize 
the existence of a “ modernist movement” alleged to be aiming 
at divulging the Druze beliefs, much less to declare “ It is under- 
stood that Dr. Bliss of Beirut will be the probable intermediary 
of communication with the western world if this disclosure takes 
place.” 2 

In fact the outside world knows so little about the contents of 
this religion that in a recent session of the Permanent Mandates 


1 Arabic Hashshashin = those addicted to the use of a stupefying weed. 
2 De Lacy O’Leary, A Short History of the Fatimid Khalifate (London, 1923), 
p- 244. Dr. Bliss died in 1920. 


1* 


— 4 — 


Commission of the League of Nations the question was raised as 
to whether there was anything in the Druze teachings that was 
inimical to organized government and to state authority. 

A study of Druzism is especially valuable and interesting not 
only because its adherents, unlike the adherents of the other sects, 
have shown remarkable vitality and thrust themselves repeatedly 
upon the attention of the world—as in the case of the current 
events in Syria—but because of its historic connection with 
Christianity and Oriental Christian sects. In its rise and develop- 
ment from Moslem soil, Druzism held close relationship to 
Christianity and became heir to a number of Zoroastrian and 
Judaeo-Christian sects, as well as to a body of Hellenistic and 
Persian philosophies. Many of those sects and schools of thought 
have since disappeared, but Druzism is still with us; and, through 
its medium, their ideas have survived to the present day. The 
religious and philosophical concepts of many Shi'ite Moslem, and 
a few semi-Christian, sects have been preserved to us through 
Druzism, though the original sects and their votaries have long 
become extinct. 

As we shall, therefore, in the following pages analyze and in- 
vestigate the apparently strange dogmas and tenets of Druze 
belief, we shall find in addition to Neo-Platonic and Manichaean 
influences, marked traces of Jewish and Christian influences which 
have trickled thereto through Moslem strata. The basic funda- 
mentals of Druze theology, as we shall see, are paralleled by 
corresponding Christian dogmas. One of the founders of Druzism 
was a renegade Christian, and many of its early leading converts 
were tribes belonging to some one of the Oriental churches. 

There is, after all, nothing mysterious in the “ Asian mystery,” 
and the “ great enigma” does lend itself to solution. 


CHAPTER II 


SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT 


Feudal Organization: —When we catch our first clear glimpse 
of the Druze people we find them living—as they are still living 
today—in small village communities at Wadi-al-Taym and 
southern Lebanon, organized into a feudal state of society. These 
village communities were under the control of local sheikhs, 
themselves subordinate to one or more amirs (princes), and the 
whole system bound together under a singular form of theocracy. 
This is still a distinguishing feature of Druze national life. 

The early Druze communities flourished at the foot of 
Mt. Hermon, and in the southern part of Western Lebanon over- 
looking Beirtt and Sidon. They were in every case agricultural, 
and subsisted wholly on the produce of the land. Commerce and 
industry had no attraction to them. These same conditions pre- 
vail almost unchanged among the Druzes until the present day. 
In the lists of the leading merchants of Aleppo, Damascus, Beirut 
and Sidon, one would search in vain for a Druze name. Perhaps 
the greatest merchants that the Druze nation ever produced are 
Druze immigrants in the United States. 

Part Played during the Crusades:—In the early period of the 
Crusading era, the Druze feudal power was in the hands of two 
families: the Tantkhs and the Arislans. From their fortresses in 
the Gharb district! of southern Lebanon, the Tanukhs led their 
incursions into the Phoenician coast and finally succeeded in 
holding Beirut and the maritime plain against the Franks. 

After. the middle of the twelfth century, the Ma‘n family 
superseded the Tanukhs in Druze leadership. The origin of the 


1 The district lying to the west of Beirut. The ruins of one of these fortresses 
still crown a little hill near Sarahmil. 


ee ens 


family goes back to a prince Man who made his appearance in 
the Lebanon in the days of the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Mustarshid 
(1118-1135 A.D.), and died in 1149 in the days of Sultan Nur-al- 
Din of Damascus. The Ma'ns chose for their abode the Shuf 
district in the southern part of Western Lebanon, overlooking 
the maritime plain between Beiriit and Sidon, and made their 
headquarters in Ba'aqlin, which is still to the present day the 
leading Druze village. They were invested with feudal jurisdiction 
by Sultan Nur-al-Din and furnished respectable contingents to 
the Moslem ranks in their struggle against the Crusaders. 

Having cleared Syria from the Franks, the Mamluk Sultans of 
Egypt turned their attention to the schismatic Moslems of Syria; 
and in the year 1305, al-Malik al-Nasir inflicted a disastrous de- 
feat on the Druzes at Kasrawan! and forced outward compliance 
on their part to orthodox (Sunni) Islam. Later under the Ottoman 
Turks they were again chastised severely at ‘Ayn-Sawfar, in 1585, 
for having attacked and robbed near Tripoli a body of Janizaries 
on their way to Constantinople carrying to the imperial treasury 
taxes collected from Egypt and Syria. 

The Druze Power at its Height:—With the advent of the 
Ottoman Turks and the conquest of Syria by Sultan Selim I, 
in 1516, the Mans threw in their lot with the conquering in- 
vaders and were immediately acknowledged by the new suzerain 
as the feudal lords of southern Lebanon. Druze villages spread 
and prospered in that region, which under Ma'n leadership so 
flourished that it acquired the generic appellation of Jabal Bayt- 
Ma‘n (the mountain of the Ma'n family) or Jabal al-Durtiz. The 
latter title, however, has since been usurped by the Hawran 
region which, since the middle of the nineteenth century, has 
proven a haven of refuge to Druze emigrants from Lebanon and 
has become the headquarters of Druze power. 

Under Fakhr-al-Din ibn-Ma'n II (1585-1635) the Druze do- 
minion increased until it included almost all Syria extending from 
the edge of the Antioch plain in the north to Safad in the south 


1 This region is today entirely occupied by Christians. 


— rf — 


with a part of the Syrian desert dominated by Fakhr-al-Din’s 
castle at Tadmur (Palmyra), the ancient capital of Zenobia. The 
ruins of this castle still stand on a steep hill overlooking the town 
and greet the eye of the passer-by. , 

Fakhr-al-Din became too strong for his Turkish sovereign in 
Constantinople. He went so far in 1608 as to sign a commercial 
treaty with Duke Ferdinand I of Tuscany containing secret mili- 
tary clauses. The Sultan then sent a force against him, and he 
was compelled, in 1614, to flee the land and seek refuge in the 
courts of Tuscany and Naples.! 

Fakhr-al-Din was the first ruler in modern Lebanon to open 
the doors of his country to foreign Western influences. Under 
his auspices the French established a khan (hostel) in Sidon, the 
Florentines a consulate, and the Christian missionaries were ad- 
mitted into the country. Beirtit and Sidon, which Fakhr-al-Din 
beautified, still bear traces of his benign rule. 

Banu-Shihab, the Last Feudal Chiefs:—As early as the days of 
Saladin, and while the Ma‘ns were still in complete control over 
southern Lebanon, the Shihab tribe, originally Hijaz Arabs but 
later domiciled in Hawran, advanced from Hawran, in 1172, and 
settled in Wadi-al-Taym at the foot of Mt. Hermon. They soon 
made an alliance with the Ma'ns and were acknowledged the 
Druze chiefs in Wadi-al-Taym. At the end of the seventeenth 
century (1697), the Shihabs succeeded the Ma'ns in the feudal 
leadership of Druze southern Lebanon, though, unlike them, 
they professed Sunni Islam. Secretly, they showed sympathy 
with Druzism, the religion of the majority of their subjects. 
Because of their blood relationship to the Quraysh, the family of 
the Prophet Muhammad, the Shihab, next to the Quraysh, is the 
noblest family in the Arabic world. 

The Shihab leadership continued till the middle of the last 
century and culminated in the illustrious governorship of al-Amir 
Bashir (1788—1840) who, after Fakhr-al-Din, was the greatest 


1 For a biography of Fakhr-al-Din, see H. F. Wuestenfeld, Fachreddin, der 
Drusenfiirst, und seine Zeitgenossen (Gottingen, 1866). 


ae Hiveoin, 


feudal lord Lebanon produced. Though governor of the Druze 
mountain, Bashir was a crypto-Christian, and it was he whose aid 
Napoleon solicited in 1799 during his campaign against Syria. 

Having consolidated his conquests in Syria (1831-1838), Ibra- 
him Pasha, son of the viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha, 
made the fatal mistake of trying to disarm the Christians and 
Druzes of the Lebanon and to draft the latter into his army. 
This was contrary to the principles of the life of independence 
which these mountaineers had always lived, and resulted in a 
general uprising against the Egyptian rule. The uprising was 
encouraged, for political reasons, by the British. The Druzes of 
Wadi-al-Taym and Hawran, under the leadership of Shibli 
al-'Aryan, distinguished themselves in their stubborn resistance 
at their inaccessible headquarters, al-Laja, lying southeast of 
Damascus. It is in this same place that the Druzes have for the 
last two years held out, against the French, under Sultan Pasha 
al-Atrash. 

Druzes and Christians Grouped in Political Rather than Religious 
Parties: —The conquest of Syria by the Moslem Arabs in the 
middle of the seventh century introduced into the land two 
political factions later called the Qaysites and the Yemenites. 
The Qaysite party represented the Hijaz and Bedouin Arabs who 
were regarded as inferior by the Yemenites who were earlier and 
more cultured emigrants into Syria from southern Arabia. The 
party lines in the Lebanon obliterated racial and religious lines 
and the people grouped themselves regardless of their religious 
affiliations, into one or the other of these two parties. The san- 
guinary feuds between these two factions depleted, in course of 
time, the manhood of the Lebanon and ended in the decisive 
battle of ‘Ayn-Darah, in 1711, which resulted in the utter defeat 
of the Yemenite party. Many Yemenite Druzes thereupon emi- 
grated to the Hawran region and thus laid the foundation of 
Druze power there. 

The Civil War of 1860:—The Druzes and their Christian 
Maronite neighbors, who had thus far lived as religious com- 
munities on amicable terms, entered a period of social disturbance 


— 9 — 


in the year 1840 which culminated in the civil war of 1860. For 
this disturbance the Sublime Porte in Constantinople was, in 
a great measure, responsible. The Sultan, realizing that the only 
way to bring the semi-independent people of the Lebanon under 
his direct control was to sow the seeds of discord among the 
people themselves, inaugurated in the mountain a policy long 
tried and found successful in the Ottoman provinces—the policy 
of “ divide and rule.” The civil war of 1860 cost the Christians 
some ten thousand lives in Damascus, Zahlah, Dayr-al-Qamar, 
Hasbayya and other towns of the Lebanon. The European 
powers then determined to interfere and authorized the landing 
in Beirit of a body of French troops under General Beaufort 
d’Hautpoul whose inscription can still be seen on the historic 
rock at the mouth of the Dog River. Following the recommen- 
dations of the powers, the Porte granted Lebanon a local au- 
tonomy, guaranteed by the powers, under a Christian governor. 
This autonomy was maintained until the Great War. 

Besides Wadi-al-Taym, the southern part of Western Lebanon 
and Hawran, the Druzes today occupy a few villages in al-Jabal 
al-A'la,! Mt. Carmel in Palestine, and Safad. Their districts in 
southern Lebanon are al-Matn and al-Shuf, and their leading 
villages are: ‘Alayh, Baystr, al-Shuwayfat, ‘Abayh, Ba'aqlin, and 
al-Mukhtarah. They number in all Syria and Palestine about 
117,000. 


1 In the vicinity of Aleppo. 


CHAPTER III 


RACIAL ORIGINS 


Number and Distribution: —With the present numerical strength 
of the Druzes, their geographical distribution in southern Lebanon, 
Wadi-al-Taym, al-Jabal al-A‘la (between Aleppo and Antioch), 
Safad and Mt. Carmel in Palestine, and with their later migrations 
which determined their present habitat, we are more or less fa- 
miliar. According to the last census there are about 110,000 Druzes 
in Lebanon and Syria, and 7,000 in Palestine. The present Druze 
population of Hawran (44,344) are, according to well authen- 
ticated documents and local oral tradition,! the descendants of 
emigrants from south Lebanon who, in 1711, as a result of the 
defeat of their Yemenite party by its Qaysite enemy, left their 
home, Kafra,2 and sought a new abode. The number was later 
augmented by fresh recruits? as a result of the 1860 civil war in 
the Lebanon. Earlier the Jabal al-A'la Druzes emigrated thither 
from the south.4 Those of Palestine are of undoubted Lebanese 
origin, though some of them may have come directly from the 
Aleppo region.5 Lebanon therefore was the distributing center 
of the Druze people and Wadi-al-Taym was the birthplace of 
their religion. 


1 Sulayman abu-‘Izz-al-Din, “ Tawattun al-Duriz,” al-Kulliyyah (Beiriat), 
May, 1926. 

2 The ruins of this little village can still be seen near ‘Aynab overlooking 
Beirit. 

8 Richard F. Burton and Charles F. T. Drake, Unexplored Syria (London, 1872), 
vol. I, 178. 

4 Cf. Henri Guys, La Nation Druze, son histoire, sa religion, ses maurs, et son 
état politique (Paris, 1863), p. 25; Gertrude L. Bell, Syria, the Desert and the Sown 
(New York, 1907), p. 306. 

5 Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement (London, 1889), p. 123. 


It is also easy to trace the ancestry of the modern Druze emi- 
grants in Europe and America back to Syria and the Lebanon. 
In the United States there are about a thousand Druzes, mostly 
of Lebanese origin, among whom eighty are women. , 

The few Druze manuscripts which have thus far fallen into our 
hands represent the Fatimite Hakim cult as having spread into 
many lands outside the confines of Syria, and as having found 
proselytes throughout northern Africa, Egypt, Arabia, ‘Iraq, Persia 
and other parts of the Near East, into which Hamzah had sent 
missionaries of different grades. That this was not an altogether 
idle boast is illustrated by a reference in al-Dhahabi! (f 1345 A.D.) 
to the execution of all those in far-away Khurasan who believed 
in the divinity of al-Hakim. Following the example, legendary 
or historical, of the Prophet Muhammad, al-Mugqtana Baha’-al-Din, 
the right hand of Hamzah in the propagation of the cult, addressed 
epistles eastward as far as India and westward as far as Constan- 
tinople, including one to Constantine VIII? and one to Emperor 
Michael the Paphlagonian.3 But the fact remains that of those 
Hakim followers, none has survived except the Druzes of the 
Lebanon.4 In Egypt they were exterminated soon after the appear- 
ance of the cult. No matter where the modern Druze, therefore, 
may be today, he can rightly trace his origin back to that mountain 
land of Lebanon. 

Religious and Racial Boundaries Coterminous : —This is especially 
true in view of the fact that with the death of Baha’-al-Din 
in 1031 A.D. “the door of the Unitarian religion was closed ” 


1 Duwal al-Islam (Hayderabad, 1337 A.H.), vol. I, 189. 

2 “T’Epitre 4 Constantin, traité religieux Druze,” publié et annoté par les 
PP. J. Khalil and L. Ronzevalle, Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale (Beirut, 1909). 
See infra, Appendix D. 

3 The epistles addressed to “ the Arabs,” “al-Yemen,” “ India,” &c., are all 
found in “ Part I” (al-Juz’ al-Awwal, MS.) of the seven parts which constitute 
the collection of tracts and epistles by Baha’-al-Din. 

4 Amin Bey Kisbany, a graduate of the American University of Beirtt and 
former Secretary of King Feisal, tells me that he found in the year 1905 in the 
mountains east of Miknas, Morocco, a Berber tribe, the banu-‘Isa, which claim 
religious affiliation with the Druzes of Syria. 


and no one could be admitted into the Druze fold or permitted 
exit from it. The Druze religion then ceased to be simply a 
religion and its followers became a distinct nation. 

Baha’-al-Din resorted to this policy as a measure of safety. 
New pretended converts might betray the cause into the hands ~ 
of its persecutors. He considered “the day of grace,” offered to 
an unworthy world by the divine al-Hakim and the transcendent 
Hamzah, as having passed forever. To a religious body thus 
reduced to the defensive and desperately striving to conceal its 
identity, if not its very existence, further proselytism became 
clearly impossible. The Druze religion thus became wholly here- 
ditary, a sacred privilege, a priceless treasure to be jealously and 
zealously guarded against the profane. This self-centralization 
which makes its votaries shun all attempts at increasing their 
number, coupled with the inviolable secrecy with which they 
practice their religion, and the readiness with which they ever 
hold themselves to profess any dominant religion that happens 
to throw its shadow across their way, has enabled the Druze 
community to maintain a stable and homogeneous existence for 
upward of nine centuries. In this it may have had no parallel in 
the religious history of the world. 

Silence of Historians:—The first historian to mention the rise 
and spread of the Druze religion was Yahya ibn-Sa id al-Antaki,! 
a Christian contemporary of Darazi,? the founder of the religion. 
In his account he was followed by another Christian historian, 
Jurjus al-Makin’ (f 1273 4.D.). But both historians are silent on 


1“ Ta'rikh” in Corpus Scriptorum Christ. Orient. Scriptores Arabicii Textus, 
T. VII (Beirit, 1909), pp. 180-234. 

2 He is the man who gave his name to the sect. Arabic Duriz is the plural 
of Durzi. 

3 Ta’rikh al-Muslimin with Latin translation, ed. Erpenius (Leyden, 1625), 
p. 264. Because of the omission of one dot from the Arabic name of “ Darazi ” 
in this edition, its pronunciation became “ Darari” and that is probably why 
the name occurs in that form in the monumental Modern Part of the Universal 
History from the Earliest Account of Time (65 vols., London, 1747-1768), XIV, 
253 and 255 and in the later edition (1779-1884), Ill, 468, XI, 320. The 
Druzes are referred to throughout this work as “ Dararians.” 


the question of racial origins. Other Arabic sources, written by 
Moslems, such as ibn-al-Athir! ( 1234), abu-al-Fida? (f 1331), 
ibn-Taghri-Birdi3 (} 1469)and later Syrian and Egyptian chroniclers 
like ibn-Khaldiin (f 1406), al-Suyiiti (} 1505), al-Ishaqi (} cir. 1650) 
are equally silent. To these annalists, questions of religious, and 
not racial, grouping were the ones of paramount and all-absorbing 
interest. 

The Crusading historians of the West and the reports of the 
pilgrims likewise throw no light on the subject. To them all non- 
Christian peoples of Syria were included under the generic name 
“ Sarracem.” ‘The pilgrims ordinarily took the coastal route and 
were therefore not likely to come much in contact with the 
Druzes. But the Druzes undoubtedly took part in the struggle 
against the Crusaders and possibly influenced the Templars by 
their organization and teaching.4 

Travelers’ and Scholars’ Accounts:—Travelers and modern 
writers have almost exhausted all the list of possible theories in 
their attempt to explain the racial beginnings of the Druze people. 
Some have even resorted to fantastic and naive, if not ludicrous, 
hypotheses. 

Benjamin of Tudela, the Jewish traveler who passed through 
the Lebanon in or about 1165 was one of the first European 
writers to refer to the Druzes by name. The word Druzes, in an 
early Hebrew edition of his travels, occurs as “ Dogziyin,”> but 
it is clear that this is a scribal error. According to the Ency- 


ee 


1 Al-Kamil, ed. C. J. Tornberg (Leyden, 1863), pp. 81 seq., 147 seq. 

2 Ta’ rikh (Constantinople, 1286 A.H.), I, 138, 158. 

3 Al-Nujam al-Zahirah, ed. Popper (Berkeley, the University Press, 1909-1912), 
Il, 69. 

4 C. R. Conder, The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem 1099-1291 (London, 1897), 
pp. 236 and 233. 

5 The Itinerary of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, translated and edited by A. Asher 
(London, 1840), I, 29 of Hebrew Text, quoted by J. G. C. Adler, Monumentum 
Cuficum Drusorum in Museum Cuficum Borgianum (Rome, 1782), p. 107. Cf. The 
Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, Critical Text, Translation and Commentary, by 
M. N. Adler (London, 1907), paragraph 29. 


clopaedia of Islam,! Benjamin also states that the Druzes were 
descended from the Ituraeans (an Aramean or Arabian tribe 
which Pompey found in Lebanon in 64.8.c.), but I have not been 
able to find this statement in any version of Benjamin’s /tinerary. 

Criticism of the Arabian Theory:—Modern travelers like Nie- 
buhr,? and scholars like von Oppenheim,3 undoubtedly echoing 
the popular Druze belief regarding their own origin, have clas- 
sified them as Arabs. The prevailing idea among the Druzes 
themselves today is that they are of Arab stock. This hypothesis 
conforms to the general local tradition, but is in contradiction to 
the results obtained in this study. In his Huxley Memorial Lec- 
ture, “ The Early Inhabitants of Western Asia,” Professor Felix 
von Luschan, the famous anthropologist of the University of 
Berlin, states that he measured the skulls of fifty-nine adult male 
Druzes and “ not one single man fell, as regards his cephalic index, 
within the range of the real Arab.”4 Evidently the Druze claim 
of Arab descent is the result of their application of the principle 
of dissimulation (tagiyyah) to their racial problem, they being 
a small minority amidst an Arab majority which has always been 
in the ascendancy. According to this principle, one is not only 
ethically justified but is under obligation, when the exigencies of 
the case require, to conceal the reality of his religion, or race, 
and feign other religious or racial relationships. 

The writer remembers hearing Druzes in Lebanon discussing 
Japanese victories during the Russo-Japanese War of 1906 and 
claiming common origin with the yellow Far Easterners. Miss 
Bell who was then traveling in Hawran (Jabal al-Durutz) observed 
that the “ Druzes believe the Japanese to belong to their own 
race. § 


1 Article “ Druzes” by Baron Carra de Vaux. 

2 Travels through Arabia and other Countries in the East, Trans. by R. Heron 
(Edinburgh, 1792), Il, 179. ; 

3 Max F. von Oppenheim, Vom Mittelmeer zum Persischen Golf (Berlin, 1899), 
HALL seq. 

4 Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (London, 1911), p. 232. 

5 Syria, the Desert and the Sown, op. cit., p. 103. 


Diverse Hypotheses:—Lamartine! discovered in the modern 
Druzes the remnants of the Samaritans; the Earl of Carnarvon,? 
those of the Cuthites3 whom Esarhaddon transplanted into Pa- 
lestine; George Washington Chasseaud,* those of the Hivites; 
and Mrs. Worsley,5 those of the Hittites. Drawing his conclusions 
from anthropometric measurements, Professor Luschan makes the 
Druzes, Maronites, and Nusayriyyah of Syria—together with the 
Armenians, Tahtajis, Bektashis, ‘Ali-Ilahis and Yezidis of Asia 
Minor and Persia—“ with their enormous high and short heads 
and narrow and high noses ”—the modern representatives of the 
ancient Hittites.6 Captain Light describes them on the authority 
of Pococke “as the remnant of Israel who fled the wrath of Moses 
after the destruction of the molten calf.”7 Canon Parfit, who 
lived several years among the Druzes, states in a recent book that 
they are “the descendants of Arabs, Persians, Hindoos, Jews and 
Christians.” 8 

Supposed Relationship with the French and British and with 
Freemasonry: —Deceived by superficial and purely accidental 
phonetic resemblances, certain French scholars once accepted the 
curious hypothesis, which in the seventeenth century found vogue 
in Europe, to the effect that the modern Druzes of the Lebanon 
are the descendants of a Latin colony which owed its origin to 
a comte de Dreux who, subsequent to the fall of Acre, led his 
Crusading regiment to the out-of-the-way hills of Lebanon. The 


1 Voyage, op. cit., II, 109. 

2 Recollections of the Druses of Lebanon (London, 1860), pp. 42-43. 

3 Tl Kings 17:24. 

4 The Druzes of Lebanon, their Manners, Customs and Religion with a Trans- 
lation of their Religious Code (London, 1855), p. 97. 

5 This lady dragged her husband some fifty years ago from a comfortable 
home in London and established herself in a Druze village, ‘Ayn-"Unib, a few 
miles from Beirit in order to prove her theory. See J. T. Parfit, Among the 
Druzes of Lebanon and Bashan (London, 1917), p. 33. 

6 Journal Royal Anthropological Institute (London, 1911), op. Cit., p. 241. 

7 Henry Light, Travels in Egypt, Nubia, Holy Land, Mount Libanon and 
Cyprus in the Year 1814 (London, 1818), p. 225. 

8 Parfit, Among the Druzes, op. Cit., p. 33. 


ecm SE Py eee 


same myth makes the Druze chief Fakhr-al-Din a scion of the 
house of Lorraine through Godfrey of Bouillon. 

This genealogy was apparently fabricated in connection with 
the visit of that prince Fakhr-al-Din to Italy, after he had made 
an alliance in 1608 with Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 
with a view to arousing a crusade against Fakhr-al-Din’s enemy 
suzerains, the Turks. In 1763 Puget de Saint-Pierre wrote a book 
entitled Histoire des Druses, Peuple du Liban, formé par une colonie 
de Francois (Paris). Articles appeared in learned magazines! sup- 
porting the idea. More discriminating writers like Volney,? 
Lamartine,3 Dussaud,4 were quick to detect the historic impos- 
sibility of the hypothesis. English travelers like Maundrell5 and 
Pococke® seem to have accepted the theory of Druze descent 
from the remains of some Christian army of Crusading origin. 

It was evidently in an analogous sphere of ideas that such 
lodges as those of “Druzes Réunis ” and “ Commandeurs du Liban” 
were founded in France.7 

By the same processes of reasoning the Druze name was con- 
nected with those of the Druids, and many Freemason lodges — 
have claimed relationship with the Druzes whose “ ancestors were 
none other than the original subjects of King Hiram of Tyre, the 
builders of Solomon’s temple.” 8 

The writer remembers more than one occasion on which 
prominent contemporaneous Druzes claimed common descent for 
their people with the British. That this claim goes back to the 


1 “ Religion des Druses,” Revue de l’Orient (Paris, 1846), X, 240. 

2 Voyage en Eg ypte et en Syrie pendant les années 1783, 1784 et 1785 (Cuvres 
de C. F. Volney, deuxiéme éd., tome II, Paris, 1825), I, 397% 

3 Lamartine, Voyage en Orient 1832-1833, CEuvres Completes, tome 7, Il, 104. 

4 R. Dussaud, Histoire et Religion des Nosairis (Paris, 1904), p. 8, n. 2 

5 Henry Maundrell, A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem on Easter A.D. 1697 
(London, 1810), pp. 51-52. 

6 Richard Pococke, A Description of the East and Some Other Countries 
(London, 1745), p- 94. 

7 Vital Cuinet, Syrie, Liban et Palestine (Paris, 1890), p. 313. 

8 B. H. Springett, Secret Sects of Syria (London, 1922), Chap. XXV, “ The 
Relation of the Druzes to Freemasonry.” 


early part of the eighteenth century is shown by a reference in 
Pococke’s Description.! English agents in Syria, anxious for a “ zone 
of influence” among the Druzes to counteract the French zone 
among the Maronites, may have acquiesced in the Druze claim to 
blood relationship with the British. 

Other Theories: —Some English scholars? of the eighteenth 
century tried to relate the Druzes to the Derusaiaiot mentioned 
by Herodotus? as one of the Median tribes transplanted by Cyrus. 
In this as in the preceding cases, there seems to be no justification 
for the theory beyond the apparent similarity in names. 

More worthy of consideration is the statement of Hogarth and 
Gertrude Bell in the Encyclopaedia Britannica* that the Druzes 
are a mixture of stocks in which the Arab largely predominates 
“grafted on to an original mountain population of Aramaic 
blood.” A study, however, of the Arabic colloquial used by the 
modern Druzes of Lebanon reveals no such marked Aramaisms 
as is revealed by a study of the colloquial of their northern 
neighbors, the Maronites, who are of mixed Aramaic stock; and 
there is nothing in the sources at our command to justify the 
inclusion of the Aramaic blood to such an extent in the Druze 
veins. ‘ 


1 Op. cit., p. 94. 

2 Adler, op. cit., p. 106. 

3 Historiae, lib. I, cap. CXXV. 

4 (Eleventh edition), article “ Druses.” 


Hitei. 2 


CHAPTER IV 
THE PERSIAN ORIGIN OF THE DRUZES 


What then are the racial affinities of that singular people which 
for the last nine hundred years has grouped itself with marvelous 
cohesion, solidarity and consciousness of kind, around the divine 
person of a whimsical Caliph? Or, to reduce our question to its 
lowest denomination, what were the racial connections of that 
little community at the foot of Mt. Hermon, in Wadi-al-Taym, 
which in 407 A.H.!/1016 A.D. responded to the mission of Darazi 
and consequently assumed his name? 

The Persian Nucleus at Wadi-al-Taym:—lIt is safe for us to 
make two postulates at the very outset. First, the people who 
later became known as the “ Druzes” must have formed a more 
or less socially homogeneous community prior to the advent of 
Darazi. Second, that homogeneous community must have had 
in it something which predisposed it for the favorable reception 
of the seemingly ‘strange and peculiar doctrines proclaimed by 
Darazi, and, having accepted them, to cherish and perpetuate 
those doctrines. Something in the social and intellectual make-up 
of that primitive community at Wadi-al-Taym must have made 
it respond whole-heartedly to Druzism and proved a fertile ou 
for the germination of its dogmas. 

The trustworthy Egyptian historian, ibn-Taghri-Birdi (7 1469 
A.D.), who is the first authority to give us any explanation as to 
why al-Hakim chose, of all places, Wadi-al-Taym as the scene 
for his Syrian propaganda, gives that explanation, which he, of 
course, draws from earlier documents, in the following words: 


1 Hamzah did not proclaim openly the incarnation of the Deity in al-Hakim — 
till the following year, 408 A.H., which marks the beginning of the Druze era 
and from which their manuscripts are dated. 


Fi oe Eta 


“ And al-Hakim said to Darazi, ‘Proceed into Syria and spread 
the cause in the mountains because their people are quick to 
follow.’ ” 1 This reason may sound strange considering the rightly 
reputed conservative character of mountaineers, but at least it 
makes it clear that Darazi proceeded to Wadi-al-Taym according 
to preconceived plans and he made its population his first ob- 
jective. And since his new doctrine was at the core an incar- 
national one of the extreme Shi ite type which had been previously 
developed in ‘Iraq ‘and Persia, it is logical to assume that the na- 
tives of Wadi-al-Taym must have been subjected to ‘Iraqizing 
or Persianizing influence before. 

The Founders of Druzism All Persian: —It should also be re- 
membered in this connection that Darazi himself was of Turco- 
Persian origin.? His sect was the Isma iliyyah.3 His theological 
philosophy was Batiniyyah (Innerite), z.e., the system of giving 
an esoteric, inner meaning to the scriptures other than the ap- 
parent, literal one. Hamzah, the teacher of Darazi4 and the brains 
of the whole movement, especially after Darazi had fallen into 
disrepute, was of undoubted Persian origin.> Besides, the whole 


1 Al-Nujum al-Zabirah, op. cit., Il, 69. 

2 Al-Makin, op. cit., calls him Persian; Silvestre de Sacy, Exposé de la religion 
des Druzes (2 vols., Paris, 1838), I, CCLXXXIV, thinks he was a Turk. By many 
historians he is described min muwalladi al-atrak, i.e.. one of his parents was 
Turkish, of course, not Ottoman Turkish, but one from Persia or Turkestan. 
See al-Muhibbi, Khulasat al-Athar (Cairo, 1284 A.H.), p. 268. 

3 A Shrah sect which believed in seven Imams of whom the last and greatest 
was Muhammad ibn-Isma‘il, a descendant of ‘Ali. For a statement in English on . 
this sect see D.B. Macdonald, Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence and Constitutional 
Theory (New York, 1903), pp. 43 seq. and E. G. Browne, A Literary History of 
Persia from the Earliest Times until Firdawst (New York, 1902), pp. 405-415. 

4 In his Literary History of Persia from the Earliest Times until Firdawsi, op.cit., 
p. 400, and Literary History of Persia from Firdawst to,Sa'di (New York, 1906), 
p. 199, the eminent English scholar, E. G. Browne, confuses Darazi with 
Hamzah making them both one man “ Hamzah-al-Duruzi.” 

5 Many historians refer to him as “ al-Ziizani,” i.e., coming from Zizan in 
Persia. The Governors and Judges of Egypt or Kitab al-Wulah wa-Kitab al- 
Qudah of el-Kindi, together with an appendix derived mostly from Raf" El-Isr 
by Ibn-Hajar, ed. R. Guest (Beiriit, 1908), p. 612. 


2* 


Fatimite dynasty, whose claim of legitimacy of descent from ‘Ali 
and Fatimah has been either suspected or vehemently denied by 
many judicious Moslem historians, was probably founded by, and 
descended from, a Persian adventurous ancestor who exploited 
a‘Alid tradition and a‘Alid fetish for his own personal interest 
and for the aggrandizement of his progeny. 

The Testimony of Religious Vocabulary: —If we, furthermore, 
investigate the technical terms current in the Druze religious 
vocabulary, we find many of them, including the word for God, 
al-Bar (from Barkhoda),! of clear Persian origin.? It is significant — 
that the Druze password as taught in their catechism, formulated 
after the time of Hamzah and al-Mugtana and patterned after the 
Christian system of questions and answers, consists in the proper 
answer to the catch question, “ Do they plant the seeds of halaly 
[or zhlilij, from Persian halilah = myrobalan citrina| in your 
country? ”3 If the man is a Druze his answer would be, “ Yes, 
they are planted in the hearts of the believers.” 

Names of Feudal Families: —A study, therefore, of the Druze 
dogmas, their religious vocabulary and the nationality of the 
missionaries would suggest ‘Iraqi and Persian beginnings for the 
Druze people. This conclusion regarding the Persian racial origins 
of the Druzes which we have reached is in contradiction to almost 
all other conclusions reached by travelers and historians.4 It is 


1 E, Blochet, Le Messianisme dans l’hétérodoxte musulmane (Paris, 1903), p. 94, 
n. 1; S. de Sacy, Chrestomathie Arabe (Paris, 1826), Il, 246, n. 72. 

2 This etymology is recognized by Hamzah himself in al-Sirah al-Musta- 
gimah, MS. 

3 One version of the Druze catechism was translated by Adler, op. cit., see 
p. 127; another by Guys, La Nation Druse, see p. 199. Cf. Baron de Bock, 
Essai sur Vhistoire du Sabéisme auquel on a joint un catéchisme, qui contient les 
principaux dogmes de la religion des Druzes (Metz, 1788), pp. 143 seq. “A Ca- 
techism of the Druze Religion ” in Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement 
(London, 1886), p. 41. 

4 Lieut.-Col. Conder in his Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, op. cit., p. 235, makes 
the categorical statement “ Nor were the Druzes of Arab race. They were in 
great measure of Persian stock; and their women wore the silver horn beneath 
the veil, projecting forward from the forehead, a costume which was used among 
tribes of the Oxus and Caspian.” 


further corroborated by an investigation of the genealogies of the 
chief feudal families which we shall now consider. 

The leading families among the Druzes have been throughout 
their history either of full Kurdish and Persian origin or of 
Persianized and ‘Iraqized Arab origin. That is, they have been 
either Kurdish and Persian families or tribes from the Arabian 
peninsula who, before their advent into the Lebanon, sojourned 
for many generations in Mesopotamia where they became fully 
indoctrinated with the ‘Alid ideas and subjected to Gnostic and 
Manichaean influences. 

Wadi-al-Taym, the place where the Druzes first appear in 
history under that name,! is so called after an Arab tribe Taym- 
Allah (formerly Taym-Allat) which, according to the greatest 
Arab historian, al-Tabari,? first came from Arabia into the valley 
of the Euphrates where they were Christianized prior to their 
migration into the Lebanon. Many of the Druze feudal families 
whose genealogies have been preserved to us by the two modern 
Syrian chroniclers: al-Amir Haydar and al-Shidyaq, seem also to 
point in the direction of the same origin—Arabian tribes which 
emigrated via the Persian Gulf and stopped in ‘Iraq on the route 
that was later to lead them to Syria. The first feudal Druze 
family, the banu-Tantkh, which made for itself a name in fight- 
ing the Crusaders under authorization from the Sultan Nur-al-Din 
of Damascus, was according to Haydar,3 an Arab tribe from 
al-Hirah (Mesopotamia) where it occupied the position of a ruling 
family and was apparently christianized. The Tanukhs must have 
left Arabia as early as the second or third century A.D. The Man 
tribe which superseded the Tanikhs and produced the greatest 
Druze hero in history, Fakhr-al-Din, had the same traditional 
origin,’ although Fakhr-al-Din himself is quoted, on the authority 


—_—-—. 


1 For Tayaminah (coming from, or belonging to, Wadi-al-Taym) as a 
synonym of “ Druzes,” see al-Muhibbi, Khulasat al-Athar (Cairo, 1284 A.H.), 
Il, 268. Cf. Guys, La Nation Druze, p. 118. 

2 Ta rikh al-Rusul, ed. de Goeje (Leyden, 1889), I, 2489-2490, 2031. 

8 Ta rikh (Cairo, 1900), p. 350. 

* Haydar, p. 316. See also T. Shidyaq, Akhbar al-A' yan (Beirit, 1859), p. 162. 


of a grandson of his, as saying that the Ma'ns were Kurds.! The 
banu-Talhtiq? and ‘Abd-al-Malik? who supplied the later Druze 
leadership have the same record as the Tanikhs. The banu- Imad 
are so-called from al-Imadiyyah,* near. al-Mawsil, and, like the 
Junblats,5 are of Kurdish origin. The Arislans claim descent from 
the Hirah Arab kings, but the name (Arslan = lion) suggests 
Persian influence if not origin. It was in conformity with the 
principle of racial dissimulation (tagiyyah) that many Druze 
families of Kurdish and Persian origins claimed Arab descent. 

It is interesting to note that most of these Druze Arab tribes 
trace their origin to southern Arabia, and not to the Hijaz tribes 
which flooded western Asia at the time of the Moslem conquests. 
This would imply an earlier migration into ‘Iraq than the rise of 
Islam, and a sojourn of many generations in a sphere of Persian 
influence. | 

Persian Tribes Transplanted into Syria: —That the Indo-Iranian 
_ elements in the blood of the historic Druzes are varied and multi- 
plied can be safely assumed, not only on the ground of probable 
beginning and intermarriages in their earlier home, Mesopotamia, 
but on the ground of possible admixture in Syria itself where 
many Persians had been domiciled prior to the rise of Druzism. 
Al-Baladhuri, the most judicious of the early Arab historians, 
informs us that Mu'awiyah (660—680 A.D.), among other Umayyad 
Caliphs, transplanted on different occasions quite a number of 
Persian and Mesopotamian tribes into the districts of Ba labakk, 
Hims, Sir (Tyre) and elsewhere in order, evidently, to take the 
place of the Byzantines who had evacuated Syria subsequent to 
its conquest by the Moslem Arabs.® In the shuffle to which these 


1 Al-Muhibbi, op. cit., p. 266. 

2 Shidyaq, p. 155. 

3 Shidyaq, p. 160. 

4 Shidyaq, p. 160. 

5 Baron Carra de Vaux, Les Penseurs de [Islam (Paris, 1926), V, 69, er- 
roneously makes the Junblats Moslem. They and the Arislans form the two 
leading Druze families at the present time. | 

6 Philip K. Hitti, Origins of the Islamic State (New York, 1916), pp. 180, 260. 
Ya'qubi, Kitab al-Buldan, ed. Juynboll (Leyden, 1886), pp. 114-115. 


renee 


Late sl 


Persian tribes were later subjected in Syria,! it is possible that some 
tribes landed in Wadi-al-Taym, which, according to a passage in 
ibn-al-Athir,2 recorded under the events of 523 A.H./1128 A.D., 
was included in the district of Ba labakk. According to the same 
passage, Wadi-al-Taym was then swarming with diverse hetero- 
doxies, such as the “Nusayriyyah, Durziyyah and Majis” 
(Magians = Manichaeans or some Zoroastrian sect). The modern 
Shi'ah of Syria, popularly known as “ Matawilah”” may go back 
to one or more of these transplanted Persian tribes.3 

Racially, therefore, the Druze people were a mixture of Persians, 
‘Iraqis, and Persianized Arabs, and were thereby admirably fitted 
for the reception of the Druze dogmas and tenets of belief, which 
we shall next take up. 


1 Hitti, Origins, p. 228. 

2 Al-Kamil, ed. Tornberg (Leyden, 1863), X, 461-462. 

3 Pére Lammens, Tasrih al-Absar (Beiriit, 1914), Il, 48-49. Cf. Lammens, 
La Syrie (Beirtit, 1921), I, 182. 


CHAPTER V 


DRUZE THEOLOGY AND ITS SOURCES 


I, THE PROBLEM WITH ITS DIFFICULTIES 


Various Hypotheses:—As in the case of determining the racial 
origins of the Druze people, so in the case of ascertaining the 
origin of their religion, all kinds of theories, some curious and 
amusing, others fantastic and naive, have been proposed. By dif- 
ferent authors at different times the Druze religion was thought 
to be related to ancient Judaism, Samaritanism and Mandaeism.! 
Madame Blavatsky, the founder of theosophy, traces, in an early 
issue of The Theosophist, the Druze religion back to Tibetan 
Lamaism.? Others have declared the whole thing an “ enigma 
hardly possible to explain.” 3 | 

Period of Concealment: —The difficulties in the way of reaching 
a thorough and scientific appreciation of the Druze religion are 
due to the scarcity of outside sources, to the secrecy with which 
the Druzes themselves practice their religious rites and mystic 
ceremonies, to the carefulness with which they guard their sacred 
writings against the profane, to the allegorical and esoteric 
character of the Arabic style of the few manuscripts which have 
fallen into our hands, and to the legitimate practice of taqiyyah, 
or dissimulation (according to which a member of this religion is 
free to profess publicly any other dogma or creed if therein lies 
the path of safety)—all these conspire to make the Druze riddle 


1 Court de Gebelin in Monde primitif, t. 8, p. 3, tries to make it a branch 
of “Sabéisme.” Cf. Baron de Bock, Essai sur Vhistoire du Sabéisme, auquel on 
a joint un catéechisme, qui contient les principaux dogmes de la religion des Druses, 
Op. Cit., pp. 136 seq. 

2 Springett, Secret Sects of Syria, pp. 234-247. 

3 Guys, La Nation Druse, pp. 13-15. 


one of the most baffling in the history of religious thought.! 
According to Druze teaching, they are now, pending the “absence” 
of al-Hakim, in a “ period of concealment” (zaman al-sitr) and 
nothing of their religion should be divulged or promulgated. 

Manuscripts:—Almost the only sources, therefore, consist of 
the manuscripts of a hundred or so texts, many of which are 
didactic and polemic treatises, which as a result of local dis- 
turbances in the Druze region, particularly the invasion of Ibrahim 
Pasha, 1831-1838, and the civil war of 1860, found their way 
into the hands of scholars. One of the first manuscripts to be 
carried into Europe was presented in 1700 to Louis XIV by 
a Syrian physician, and is now deposited in the Bibliothéque 
Nationale. Most of these manuscripts are written in a language 
which from the standpoint of diction, grammar and style is quite 
far from the language of the Koran and bristles with contra- 
dictory and obscure passages, cryptic phrases, and ambiguous 
words. The present study is based on twenty or more original 
manuscripts, many of which are in the Robert Garrett collection 
at Princeton University. 

The Historical Setting: —Viewed as a distinct religious phe- 
nomenon, as an independent sphere of thought detached from its 
historical setting and background, Druzism does present some- 
what of an enigma; but considered as an outgrowth of the 
Isma' iliyyah sect, which itself belonged to the ultra group of the 
Shi'ah heterodoxies of Islam, and properly envisaged in the 
Moslem milieu out of which it arose and in which it developed, 
the Druze religion yields to analytical treatment and becomes 
comparatively easy of explanation. 

Silvestre de Sacy, the father of Arabic scholarship in Europe, 
whose monumental work Exposé de la religion des Druzes (2 vols., 
Paris, 1838) has not yet been superseded though it appeared some 


1 True to the principle of tagiyyah, Salih ibn-Yahya, himself probably 
a Druze, from whose pen we have the best history of Beirit (Ta rikh, 
ed. Cheikho, Beirtit, 1902) written in the fifteenth century, does not even 
mention the Druzes by name. 


om! 36 me 


ninety years ago and before many original sources were brought 
to light, gives us an excellent internal interpretation of the Druze 
religion but does not go far in disentangling the different fibers 
in the intricate and complex web of the system and in tracing 
them back to the remote origins in the various religions or philo- 
sophical and metaphysical schools of thought. And whereas many 
eminent scholars in recent times, chief among whom stands the 
late Ignacz Goldziher of the University of Budapest, have addressed 
themselves to the task of analyzing the component elements that 
entered into the composition of Sunni (orthodox) and Shi'ite 
Islam, the Druze sect still remains without an interpreter in the ~ 
field of the history of religion. 


Il. THE HAKIM-GOD 


Whimsical Character of al-Hakim:—The basic and distinctive 
dogma of Druze theology is the deification of the young Fatimite 
Caliph (996—1020). 

Sunni Moslem historians, such as al-Dhahabi, ibn-al-Athir, 
abu-al-Fida, ibn-al-Qalanisi,! al-Rudhrawari? and ibn-Khallikan,? 
remembering him as the heretic who abolished the five pillars of 
Islam and ordered the names of the early Caliphs associated with 
a curse in the public prayer, have portrayed him in terms of a 
medieval Nero, tyrannical and unbalanced to the point of mental 
derangement. The Christian historians, such as Yahya ibn-Sa id,4 
al-Makin5 and Bar-Hebraeus,® associating his memory with the 
destruction of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem “leaving not one 
stone upon another ”7 and the revival of the old regulations, 


1 Dhayl Ta’ rikh Dimashq, ed. H. F. Amedroz (Beirit, 1908), pp. 44-50, 55-71. 

2 Dhayl Kitab Tajarib al-Umam, ed. Amedroz (Oxford, 1921), Ill, 233 seq., 
English translation by D. S. Margoliouth, vol. VI, 246-247. 

3 Wafayat al-A‘yan (Cairo, 1299 A.H.), Il, 4-7, English translation by 
MacGuckin de Slane (4 vols., Paris, 1842-1871), Il, 449 seq. 

4 Op. cit. 

5 Op. cit. 

6 Abu-al-Faraj ibn-al-Ibri, Mukhtasar al-Duwal (Beirit, 1890), pp. 312-313. 

7 Al-Qalanisi, op. cit., p. 67. 


_first enacted by the ‘Abbasid al-Mutawakkil, which made it in- 
cumbent upon all Christians to wear distinctively colored clothes 
with heavy wooden crosses dangling from their necks, were 
equally merciless in his condemnation. Through Gibbon,! who 
paints quite a dark picture of al-Hakim, the English-speaking 
world has become acquainted with him as a bizarre and whim- 
sical character. What we have from the pen of these writers is 
not a portrait but a caricature. 

The Druze writers, while not denying some of his excesses, 
interpret them allegorically and symbolically.2 His freakishness 
only serves to intensify the belief in his superhuman character. 
_ His extraordinary conduct proves his divine nature. 

The fact that al-Hakim introduced many reforms regulating 
weights and measures, fought immorality with police ordinances 
and succeeded in establishing a religious community that has sur- 
vived for nine centuries like a fossil—and if ever there was 
a fossil in history that certainly is the Druze community—amidst 
a hostile environment indicates that he was not the kind of 
a maniac or fool whose biography these early writers have left us. 
(See Appendix B.) 

His Deification:—Strange as the apotheosis of al-Hakim may 
seem—especially in view of the. black picture left us by his bi- 
ographies—yet the idea itself was not a novel one in Islam. Prior 
to the rise of Druzism, different Shi ah sects have held different 
shades of the belief that ‘Ali and his successor Jmams were in- 
fallible supernatural beings endowed to some degree with the 
divine essence. The Isma ‘iliyyah sect, from whose bosom Druzism 
sprang as did also the Assassins of Crusading fame, together with 
al-Qaramitah, which between the ninth and twelfth centuries 
swept through Western Asia, had both venerated certain 
descendants of ‘Ali and hailed them as infallible rulers of the 
world. 


1 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ed. H.H. Milman (a new edition in 
five volumes, New York, 1845), IV, 173. 
2 Hamzah, Kitab fihi Haga’ iq Ma, MS. 


seer Pe ieee 


The step from that position to an incarnational philosophy 
of theism is not, indeed, a long one; and a few of the extremist 
(Ghulat) Shi'ah sects had taken it. In the polemic literature of 


Islam, and particularly in the works of al-Baghdadi! (f 1037A.D.), 


ibn-Hazm? (} 1063) and al-Shahrastani? (¢ 1153), we have pre- 
served for us among the semi-religious, semi-philosophical sects 
of unorthodox Islam the names of many groups with incar- 
national theories which may be considered the prototypes of the 
Druze al-Hakim cult. First among these was al-Saba’iyyah, so 
called after a Jew who declared ‘Ali god. Al-Baghdadi* devotes a 
chapter to the incarnational sects (a/-Huliliyyah) and enumerates 
ten different ones. 

The Nusayriyyah, who preceded the Druzes and had early 


contacts with them, as attested by the Druze manuscripts,> and — 


who are represented until the present day by three villages® in 
the Druze district at Wadi-al-Taym, deify ‘Ali.7 “Ali-God ad- 
herents are also to be found today ina sect of Turcoman peasants 
at Qars (Ardaghan) whose very name “ ‘Ali-Ilahi ” 8 betrays their 
characteristic belief. 

Even in other than Shi'ite circles of Islam, the elevation of 
a mortal to the ranks of the deity finds not an altogether 


1 Mukhtasar al-Farq bayn al-Firaq, ed. Philip K. Hitti (Cairo, 1924). 
Al-Baghdadi, al-Farq bayn al-Firaq, ed. Bedr (Cairo, 1910), partly done 
into English by Kate Chambers Seelye and entitled Moslem Schisms and. Sects 
(New York, 1920). 

2 Al-Fisal fi al-Milal (Cairo, 1317 A.H.). 

3 Al-Milal w-al-Nibal, on the margin of ibn-Hazm. Translated by T. Haar- 
briicker under the title Asch-Schahrastani, Religionspartheien und Philosophen-Schulen 
(Halle, 1850). | 

4 Ed. Hitti, op. cit., pp. 160-161. 

5 An early Druze MS. al-Radd ‘ala al-Risalah al-Damighah li-al-Fasiq 
al-Nusayri was written by Hamzah to refute the charges of a Nusayri. 

6 These are: ‘Aynfit, Za'tra and Ghajar. They lie not far from Baniyas, 
ancient Caesarea Philippi. 

7 R. Dussaud, Histotre et Religion des Nosairis (Paris, 1904), p. $3. 


8 Saeed Khan, “ The Sect of Ahl-i-Haqq ” in The Moslem World (Newtoul! . 


Jan., 1927, pp. 31-42. 


-uncommon expression. The case of the Sufi al-Hallaj,! who was 
crucified in Baghdad in 922 a.p. because he identified himself with 
God, and his fellow self-deified Sufi, al-Shalmaghani,? who was 
beheaded also in Baghdad in 934 a.D., may be cited as illustrations. 

Al-Hakim as the Messiah:—Having determined the antecedents 
of the Druze incarnational dogma in the preceding Islamic 
thought, our next task is to push back our query into the in- 
tellectual ancestry of that Islamic idea in the pre-Islamic realm of 
thinking. The influence of the Christian incarnation precedent 
must have been too widespread and too apparent to have escaped 
the attention of the early Moslem thinkers. The great ibn- 

Khaldtin and before him al-Shahrastani3 blame the incarnational 
Moslem heresy on Judaeo-Christian sects. Among modern Western 
scholars, de Sacy,4 van Vloten® and Goldziher® have laid great 
stress on the Messianic tendencies in early Islam as the main 
source of Shi‘ism. In the case of the Druzes, Hamzah, of course 
with an eye upon the Copts of Egypt and other Christians, goes 
so far as to declare al-Hakim “the Messiah.” 7 

His argument in defense of deification is clever:—“If ye 

Christians and Jews believe that God spoke to Moses through 
a dry tree and, on another occasion, through a mountain..., is it 
not then meet to believe that our Lord [al-Hakim] is a more 
worthy means through whom God manifests to the world his 
power and behind whom he conceals himself?” 8 


1 Abu-al-Fida, op. cit., I, 75; ibn-Khallikan, op. cit., I, 261 seq. = de Slane 
Translation, I, 423 seq.; De Lacy O’Leary, Arab Thought and its Place in History 
(London, 1922), p. 193; L. Massignon, a/-Hallaj (Paris, 1922), vol.I, pp. 292-329. 

2 Yaqut, Mu'jam al-Udaba, ed. Margoliouth (Leyden, 1907), I, 302; 
Duncan B. Macdonald, op. cit., p. 185. 

3 Op. cit., II, 10. 4 Expose, 1, XXXI seq. 

5 Recherches sur la domination arabe, le chiitisme et les croyances messianiques 
sous le khalifat des omayyades (Amsterdam, 1894), pp. 54 Seq. , 
8 Vorlesungen iiber den Islam (2nd ed., Heidelberg, 1925), pp. 3, 17, 120 and 

Chap. V, “ Das Sektenwesen.” 

7 Hamzah, Khabar al- Yahid w-al-Nasara, MS. 

8 Kashf al-Haqga’iq in C. Seybold, “Die Drusenschrift,” Kitab al-Nogat 
(Leipzig, 1902), p. 92. 


In the Druze catechism, al-Hakim is repeatedly identified 
with “the living Messiah.” ! Likewise Baha’-al-Din, in his turn, 
identifies Hamzah with the Messiah.? In his many epistles directed 
to the Christians, Baha’-al-Din often calls the Christians “saints ” 
and “assemblies of saints.” (See Appendix D.) 

A Series of Divine Incarnations:—The guiding thought of Druze 
theogony, as it was with the Isma‘iliyyah, is the belief in 
a succession of divine manifestations through a progressive series. 
Hence with the Druzes, al-Hakim is not only the incarnation of 
God but the final and most perfect manifestation, having been 
preceded by nine others among whom figure al-Bar (Barkhoda), 
‘Ali and the ancestors of al-Hakim in the Fatimite Caliphate. 

According to a further development of this idea, the divine 
humanity of God, though it appears under different names in 
different countries and times, is essentially one and always the 
same in its diverse manifestations. The human figure serves only 
as a veil to hide the divine essence behind. 

In contrast to the Druze ten successive incarnations, the 
Nusayriyyah believe in seven only, corresponding to the seven 
heavens and the seven planets. 

To this same sphere of thought should be consigned the recent 
Baha’i theory of divine manifestations which is an outgrowth of 
Babi and Sheikhite ideas which in turn flourished in the fertile 
Shi‘ah soil of Persia. And as in modern Baha‘ism so in ancient 
Druzism, resort is had to Pythagorean subtleties and to the 
occult art of manipulating letters and combinations of letters 
assigning cabalistic numerical values to them in order to 


1 Adler, op. cit.. pp. 121, 132. 

2 See his epistle entitled al-Masihiyyah (Christianity), MS., and Appanat E. 

3 Dr. Wolff, “ Ausziige aus dem Katechismus der Nossairier,” Zeitschrift der 
Deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft (1849), Tl, 303. | 

4 This science is represented in Islam by the “ Hurufi” school and the 
Bektashi order of dervishes. See Goldziher, Vorlesungen, pp. 246, 274, 362; 
E. G. Browne, Persian Literature under Tartar Dominion (Cambridge University 
Press, 1920), pp. 370-375 ; Browne, “ Literature and Doctrine of the Huriifi Sect,” 
Journal Royal Asiatic Society, Jan., 1898. 


determine the periods that elapsed between one manifestation 
and the other. 

The Disappearance and Triumphal Return of al-Hakim:—Closely 
allied to the incarnational theory, and working out as a corollary 
from it, was the belief in the immortal character of the Imam in 
whose case “disappearance” (ghaybah) takes the place of death 
and whose final “ return” (raj‘ah) is expected so that he may lead 
his people in triumph to a new and happy age. When, therefore, 
al-Hakim, on that fateful day in 1020 a.D., went on his usual 
promenade to the Mugattam hill just outside of the city of Cairo 
never to return—probably because he fell a victim to a plot 
prearranged by his sister Sitt-al-Mulk!—his “admirers refused to 
believe in his death and began to expect his return.”2 They still 
hold that he is in a state of temporary occultation. History has 
preserved for us the names of few who on different occasions 
tried to impersonate the returned al-Hakim. In his dramatic 
work entitled “The Return of the Druzes,” Browning tells the 
story of one of these impostors. 

This “hidden Imam” idea was carefully worked out by many 
of the extreme Shi'ah sects prior to Druzism, and reached its 
most elaborate expression as a doctrine in the Isma ‘iliyyah group. 
Its psychological basis should surely be sought in the strong but 
unfulfilled desires and hopes of a persecuted and depressed people 
(as the Shi‘ah were under the Umayyads and ‘ Abbasids) with the 
supreme ambition for a saviour-leader whose coming shall usher 
in for them a new era of liberty and prosperity. 

This Moslem Mahdi idea was subjected to Semitic Judaeo- 
Christian Messianic influences on the one hand, and, in its later 
development, to Iranian-Mandaean influences. The case of the 
prophet Elijah, called throughout the Christian East “the Living 
One” (al-Hay), was a prototype of the ever-living Imam. The 
stories of the assumption of Moses and the ascension of Isaiah 
in the non-canonical literature of the Bible might have served 


1 Hamzah may have hada hand in the conspiracy. Guys, La Nation Druse, p. 69. 
2 Al-Qalanisi, op. cit., 79-80; ibn-Khallikan, op. cit., DI, 7; Appendix C. 


as stimuli. The expression of the “hidden Jmam” Shi ite doctrine! 
was a reflex of Isaiah, chapter XI. The second advent of Christ 
was paralleled by the “return” of the Mahdi bringing politico- 
religious restoration.? 

Indo-Iranian Influences:—The problem of disentangling and 
sorting the different elements—labelling each Judaeo-Christian, 
Hellenistic or Zoroastrian—which went into the make-up 
of the historic Shi‘ah schisms is one bristling with difficulties 
and uncertainties. How much did Shi'ah owe to western Neo- 
Platonic philosophies on the one hand, and how much to eastern 
Persian and Indian systems of thought on the other, is not 
always easy to ascertain at the present stage of research. 

Modern European Semitic scholars, led by Ignacz Goldziher, 
have, however, been inclined to underrate the eastern influence. 
Certain French Persian scholars, on the other hand, such as 
E. Blochet and Baron Carra de Vaux3 have tried to attribute to 
Persianizing influences a great many of the cardinal Shi ah 
beliefs. The former scholar traces the origin of the incarnational 
and Mahdi idea to Zoroastrian sources, Barham Amavand being 
the Iranian Messiah.4 

Further investigation will probably reveal that the Indo-Iranian 
influence on the rise and the development of the Shi ah sects was 
greater than we now realize. That such influence was clearly 
recognized by early Moslem scholars is evinced by the fact that 
al-Baghdadi,® for instance, gues so far as to exclude the Batiniyyah, — 
including the Qaramitah and Isma‘iliyyah, from the list of 
Moslem sects and to classify them under Majus (Magians), 2.e., 
Zoroastrians. A tradition (hadith) puts in the mouth of the 
Prophet himself the following words: “The Qadarites are the 
Magians of my people.”® Besides, there is no gainsaying the fact 


1 Cf. e.g. the Karbiyyah doctrine in al-Baghdadi, ed. Hitti, pp. 36-37. 

2 See G. van Vloten, “ Zur Abbasidengeschichte,” ZDMG, LII, 218 seq. 

3 Le mahométisme, le génie sémitique et le géniearyen dans I’ Islam (Paris, 1898), p.112. 
4 E. Blochet, op.cit., pp. 126 seq. 

5 Ed. Hitti, pp. 23, 170 seq. 

6 [bid., p. 16; al-Shahrastani, op. cit., I, 54. 


that Shi‘ah sprang up on Persian ‘Iraqi soil, that its chief pro- 
tagonists have been mostly Persian, and that until the present day 
it constitutes the state religion of the kingdom of Persia. 

In its further development the “ return” doctrine (parousia) 
gave rise to interesting eschatological ideas to which unbridled 
human fancies contributed their fantastic share. According to 
Druze doctrine the “return” of al-Hakim will result in the 
triumph of the Unitarian religion and the worldly reward of its 
adherents, who will thus become high office-holders, to the dis- 
comfiture and affliction of all infidels and apostates who are then 
metamorphosed into menial servants, swine and dogs.! This cor- 
responds in general to the resurrection day. 

Unitarians:—The Druze conception of the deity is declared 
by them to be one of strict and uncompromising unity. In their 
desire to maintain a rigid confession of unity they stripped from 
God all attributes (tanzih) which may savor of, or lead into, 
polytheism (s/irk). In Allah there are no attributes distinct from 
his essence. He is wise, mighty, just, &c., not by wisdom, might, 
justice, &c., but by his own essence. There is neither “ how,” 
“when” nor “ where” about him: he is incomprehensible. 

In this dogma, as in the others, the Druzes were no originators. 
They had for precedent that interesting semi-philosophical, semi- 
religious body which flourished under al-Ma’ mtn and was known 
by the name of al-Mu'tazilah? and the equally interesting fra- 
ternal order of the “ Brethren of Purity ” (kbwan al-Safa). 

The Druze favorite name for themselves is Muwahbhidin3— 
Unitarians—believers in one and only one God, In this they 


1 See Druze catechism in Adler, op. cit., pp. 122-1233; de Bock, op. cit., 
pp. 147-148; “A Catechism of the Druzes,” Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly 
Statement (London, 1886), pp. 39-40. 

2 al-Shahrastani, I, 55; Mas‘tidi, Muruj al-Dhahab, Texte et Traduction par 
C. Barbier de Meynard (Paris, 1871), VI, 20. 

3 The Moorish dynasty which originated with ibn-Tumart in the 12th century 
and conquered all northern Africa and Moslem Spain bore the same name 
corrupted through Spanish into “Almohades.” The same name is a favorite one 
with the modern Wahhabis of Nejd. 

Hicti. 


follow the precedent of the Mu'tazilah who insisted on calling 
themselves “The People of Justice and Unity” (Abl al-Adl 
w-al-Tawhid). 


Il. FIVE DIVINE MINISTERS AND THREE INFERIOR ONES 


The Process of Emanation:—Having accepted the Allah of the 
Mu tazilah and “ Brethren of Purity,” already reduced to a flimsy 
abstraction, the Druze mind could not rest until it had personified 
God’s mind, will, word, &c., and made separate beings out of 
each of them, constituting the five supreme ministers (Hudzd, 
literally, bounds or precepts). 

The first one whom the primeval God created, and that by 
a process of emanation from himself,! was the “ Universal Mind,” 
Hamzah himself, the real founder of the Druze religion and its 
supreme pontiff who thus becomes the ruler of the universe. 
Even on the day of judgment he promotes and demotes whom- 
soever he pleases, a sort of proxy or demiurge for the divine 
Hakim. In the meantime an “ Opposer” (Dudd)? is created 
by the same process of emanation, a kind of antagonist to the 
“Universal Mind,” whose object it is to nullify the work of the 
Mind. This makes it necessary for God to create, by emanation 
from the “ Universal Mind,” a second minister—the “ Universal 
Soul.” This “ Universal Soul” is in the position of a wife to the 
“Universal Mind,” and from it emanates the “ Word.” By similar 
processes the “Right Wing” or “Precedent” and the “Left Wing” 
or “Follower” are brought into existence, the “ Left Wing ” 
being none other than al-Muqtana Baha’-al-Din, the fifth and 
last supreme minister who stands at the head of a lower hie- 
rarchy3 and whose multitudinous treatises and epistles, together 


1 For this process of creation, see Mukhtasar al-Bayan fi Majra al-Zaman, 
MS. (translated in part by Guys, Théogonie des Druses, Paris, 1863, pp. 3-84). 
The theory was first promulgated by Hamzah, Kashf al-Haqa’ iq and in other MSS. 

2 Differently translated into “ Rival” by de Sacy and Guys, and “ Contrast ” 
by Friedlaender. 

3 There was a hierarchy of missionaries graded into Da‘i, Ma’ dbun, and 
Mukasir. 


with those of Hamzah, form the Druze sacred literature. This 
Baha -al-Din may have been of Christian origin! as his writings 
reveal unusual familiarity with the New Testament and Christian 
liturgy. (See Appendix E.) . 

The Neo-Platonic Source :—We are evidently here in the atmos- 
phere of the “emanation” theory which characterizes both Neo- 
Platonic? and Gnostic schools of philosophy and which must 
have filtered into the Druze system through Qaramitah and 
“Brethren of Purity” channels. According to Professor Scott 
in Hastings’ Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics,3 “'The first 
characteristic feature of Gnosticism is that at the head of 
the Universe stands a supreme God who is not so much 
a personal Deity as the abstract ground of all existence. From 
the supreme God there proceed a number of beings in a 
descending scale of dignity who are arranged in pairs, male and 
female.” 

The third minister, the “ Word,” is presumably an echo of the 
Christian Alexandrian Logos. 

The doctrine of “ Opposers,” or the simultaneous revelation 
of the Deity in a good principle and an evil principle, parallels 
the Zoroastrian dualistic doctrine and reminds us of the Syzygy 
theory in the pseudo-Clementines.4 The Zoroastrian influence is 
further shown by the reference to God as the “ light ” with the 
opposing principle as the “ darkness.”5 A further working out 
of this same principle in the Druze system is in the case of the 


1 De Sacy, Exposé, I, 85, n. I. In his Epistle to Emperor Constantine and in 
the one entitled “ Christianity,” Baha’-al-Din confuses John the Evangelist with 
John the Baptist and John Chrysostom. He identifies Hamzah with Christ and 
finds in the “three days” in which Jesus said he could rebuild the temple. 
direct reference to Hamzah. He also uses parables that breathe the same 
atmosphere as those of the New Testament. See one of his parables in de Sacy, 
Chrestomathie Arabe (Paris, 1826), I, 304-309. 

2 See Goldziher, “Neuplatonische und gnostische Elemente im Hadit,” Zeit- 
schrift fiir Assyriologie (1909), XXII, 317 seq. 

3 Article “ Gnosticism.” 

4 Recognitiones, Il, 59, 613 Homilies, Il, 15. 

5 Cf. Friedlaender, Journal American Oriental Society, XXIX, 116. 


50 


creation of the prophets where many of them have “ Opposers.” 
Adam for instance has Harith ibn-Tarmah against him.! 

Like Neo-Platonism and Gnosticism, the Nusayriyyah assume 
an agent of creation, a demiurge, in the person of ‘Ali. The 
Mufawwadiyyah? (the Believers in Entrusting) taught that God 
had entrusted Muhammad with the creation and management of 
the universe, but Muhammad in turn entrusted ‘Ali with the 
task. But the “Brethren of Purity ” have perhaps contributed 
more than any one else towards the introduction into and the 
formulation of the emanation-demiurge idea in Islam, and that 
because through their religious philosophic works,3 which were 
encyclopaedic in their character, they not only gave technical 
expression in Arabic to the foreign concepts involved but 
popularized the concepts and gave the expressions currency. 

Inferior Ministers :—Below the five superior ministers and stand- 
ing in a subordinate position to them are three orders of minor 
ministers which we may term: “ Propagator” (Da 1), “ Licensed ” 
(Ma’dhin), and “ Pioneer ” (Mukasir or Nagib).4 Their functions 
are not clearly defined in the Druze manuscripts, but seem to be 
of the missionary type. This can be ascertained from the mean- 
ing of the Arabic names applied to them and from a study of 
corresponding officials in the Batiniyyah system, which was one 
of the best and most efficiently organized systems of religious. 
propaganda that Islam ever developed. 

The “ Propagator ” assumes the rdle of the chief agent for the 
spreading of the faith. The “Licensed ” has authority to preach, 
but is subject to the direction and guidance of the “ Propagator.” 
The “ Pioneer ” assumes responsibility for arousing the doubts of 
the would-be convert regarding his old beliefs, thus preparing 
him for the reception of the novel religion as soon as it is 


1 Hamzah, al-Sirah al-Mustaqimah, MS. 
2 Al-Baghdadi, ed. Hitti, p. 157. 

3 See Rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa, ed. F. Dieterici (Die Abhandlungen der Ichwan 
es-Safa, Leipzig, 1883), pp. 3-4. , 
4 Sabab al-Asbab w-al-Kanz, MS., also in Le Monde Oriental (Uppsala, 1909), 
vol. III, p. 100. 


oe: 


] 


preached to him by a “Licensed” or a “ Propagator.” His office, 
as the Arabic name indicates, is one of breaking up and des- 
troying. 

Here again the male and female principles are represented in 
these ministers in their relation one to the other, and to the upper 
hierarchy. The “ Propagator” is in the position of a wife with 
respect to the “ Hujah”, and of a husband with respect to the 
“Licensed.” The “Licensed ” is in the position of a wife to the 
“Propagator,” and a husband to the “Pioneer.” The same 
double status applies to the “ Pioneer.” ! 

Below these inferior ministers stand the rank and file of Druze 
believers. 

IV. THE PROPHETIC SUCCESSION 


Seven Major Prophets:—Next in rank to the divine ministers in 
the Druze hierarchy stand the prophets. The prophetic succession 
tallies in general with the preceding Isma' iliyyah series of seven.? 
Adam heads the list which includes Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus 
(Isa ibn-Yusuf), Muhammad, and Muhammad ibn-Isma‘il. Each 
one of these legislating prophets (Natiq) has by his side a minor 
prophet (Asas) acting as a lieutenant or substitute and having 
under him twelve disciples (Hujjah). The substitute, also called 
“ silent ” (Samit), utters no new doctrine but merely teaches and 
develops that which he has received from his chief, the legislative 
prophet. The substitute represents the female and the legislator 
the male principles. The list of substitutes includes Ishmael, 
Aaron, Simon and ‘Ali, and that of disciples, Enoch, Daniel, Plato 
and other biblical and Greek characters.4 Each “period” or 
“cycle” is introduced by a legislative prophet. Between one 
legislative prophet and the other are seven intervening Imams of 
whom the first is in each case the trusted and intimate substitute 
(Asas, Samit) of his chief, the legislating prophet (Natiq). 


1 Hamzah, Mithaq al-Nisa’, MS. 

2 E. Blochet, Le Messianisme, op. cit., p. §9. 

3 Al-Tamimi, Taqsim al-'Ulim, MS.; Hamzah, Mithaq al-Nisa’, MS. 
4 Hamzah, al-Sirah al-Mustagimah, MS. 


Seven a Sacred Number:—As in the case of the “ periods ” 
between the successive incarnations, so in the case of the pro- 
phetic successions, the “periods” or “cycles” are all nicely 
arranged and determined by cabalistic figuring in which the 
numbers seven and seventy,! as is to be expected, take a pro- 
minent place. The Pythagorean origin of this system of com- 
putation is not difficult to detect. Regarding the mystic nature 
of the number seven, Baha’-al-Din reasons thus: “Everything 
when it gets to be seven ends and should be replaced by another. 
For example the seven days, when they end they begin over 
again... Also the heavens are seven, the earths are seven, the 
climates are seven, the height of man by his own span is seven, 
and the orifices in his face are seven. Likewise the legislative 
prophets are seven, their substitutes are seven and the intervening 
Imams between one legislator and the other are seven.”2 

Following their spiritual ancestors, the Isma’ iliyyah, the Druzes 
also believe in seven heavens, seven seas, seven earths and seven 
hidden Imams. The identification of the Jmams with the heavens 
becomes an easy step and betrays ancient Babylonian and Chal- 
daean astrological influences. Isma‘ il ibn-Muhammad is identified 
with the first heaven; Muhammad ibn- Abdullah, with the fourth; 
al-Husayn ibn-Muhammad, with the oe and ‘Abdullah ibn-al- 
Mahdi with the seventh.3 

Excellence of Druze System:—Each one of the Druze legislator- 
prophets abrogates in his turn the law of the preceding one. 
So did the Isma' iliyyah prophets. The antecedent of this general 
idea should be sought in the abrogation by Muhammad of the 
Jewish law?# and is in harmony, though not identical, with the 
Marcionite Gnostic theories. As a corollary to that, the Druzes 
consider all former religions, including Christianity, Judaism and 


1 Hamzah, Kashf al-Haqa'iq, MS. 

2 Al-Juz’ al-Awwal, MS. 

3 Al-Tamimi, Taqsim al-'Ulim, MS.; ‘Abd-al-Ghaffar, Majra al-Zaman, 
MS.= Henri Guys, Théogonie des Druses ou Abrégé de leur Systeme Religieux, 
traduit de l’Arabe (Paris, 1863), pp. 54-55. 

4 Koran 2:286, 4:158, 7:156. 


Islam as forerunners and varied types of Druzism, which super- 
sedes and excels them all. 

Adam:—Of special interest to us are Adam and Jesus who 
seem to stand above the other prophets and share in the divine 
essence. A number of Jewish Christian sects, such as the Essenes 
and Nazarenes, adopted this gnostic view, which, combined with 
Persian and old Babylonian mythology, furnished Mani with the 
doctrine of the original man. The Adam of the Druze theology, 
therefore, is not exactly the Adam of Genesis but the “ original 
man”! of the Manichaeans, the Adam Kadmon? of the Jewish 
cabala. 

Certain Moslem sects, like the Muhammadiyyah, went so far 
as to declare the divinity of Adam. 

Jesus:—The Jesus (‘Isa ibn-Ytisuf) of the Druze manuscripts 
is also somewhat different from the Jesus of the New Testament. 
He is rather the Moslem Jesus patterned after the conception of 
him by the ancient heretic sect of the Docetae who held that 
Christ suffered only in appearance. This doctrine was handed 
down to the Moslems probably through Manichaean channels.3 
The Manichaean movement, which arose in close connection with 
Mandaeanism in ‘Iraq or southern Babylonia, about the middle 
of the third century A.D., and which, as a/-Fihrist declares, was 
a blend of the old Magian cult with Christianity,4 was Iranian in 
its mythology and cosmological beliefs. It exercised a great in- 
fluence over the Moslem sects in al-Iraq, which was also rich in 
Jewish and Christian sects and heresies. 


1 “ Insan Qadim” in al-Fibrist, ed. G. Fliigel (Leipzig, 1872), p. 329. See 
also Fliigel, Mani (Leipzig, 1862), pp. 97, 105. 

2 Louis Ginzberg, article “ Adam Kadmon,” Jewish Encyclopaedia. 

3 F, C. Burkitt, The Religion of the Manichees (Cambridge University Press, 1925), 
pp. 38-40; Fliigel, Mani, pp. 337-338. 

4 Al-Fibrist, p. 328. That Islam knew a great deal about Mani and Mani- 
chaeanism is evidenced by the fact that our oldest and most trustworthy sources 
on that movement are to be found in Arabic-Moslem literature and particularly 
al-Fibrist. A peculiar sect of Manichaeanism, Mazdakiyyah, seems to have 
exercised tremendous influence over the Moslem sects. Al-Shahrastani (II, 29) in- 
forms us that the Batiniyyah and Qaramitah in al-'Iraq were called “ Mazdakites.” 


me re a oe 


V. THE INNER MEANING 


The Batiniyyah:—Having deviated from the letter as well as 
from the word of Allah as revealed in the Koran, and without 
seeming to abrogate altogether its legislative precepts, certain 
schools of thought, designated by orthodox theologians Batiniyyah, 
found it expedient to resort to a new and ingenious device—that 
of interpreting the religious facts esoterically or allegorically. 
Though classified by al-Baghdadi, al-Shahrastani and ibn-Hazm 
as “sects,” the Batiniyyah were rather unorganized philosophical 
schools of thought. They belonged in the main to the Qaramitah 
and Isma' iliyyah sects, from which Druzism sprang, and to certain 
Sufi fraternities. Truth, according to the cardinal Batiniyyah 
concept, is to be ascertained by the discovery of an inner meaning 
(batin, hence the appellation Batiniyyah = Innerites) of which the © 
outer form is a mere veil intended to keep the truth from the 
eyes of the uninitiate. | 

This device put at once into the hands of the Shi‘ah schismatic 
sects a powerful weapon which dealt deadly blows to the core of 
Islam leaving only its outside shell. The shadow was there but 
the substance had gone. Meanwhile it enabled its adepts to ap- 
propriate from non-Moslem sources whatever suited their own 
convenience. 

Thus through Sufi and Shi'ah channels, Druzism was made to 
enter into the inheritance of Philo and early esoteric exegetes. 

Darazi, one of the founders of the Druze system—if system it 
could be called—was a Batini missionary, as we are told by many 
of his biographers.! ; 

The Mubammadan Law Abrogated:—Between unbridled al- 
legorical interpretation of the law and its virtual suspension lies 
one short step, and that step was actually taken by Hamzah, the 
real founder of the Druze religion. Following the Isma‘iliyyah — 
precedent, Hamzah, in his Kitab al-Naqd al-Khafi, went so far as 
to abolish the so-called five pillars of Islam, including fasting, 


1 Tbn-Taghri-Birdi, op. cit., p. 69. 


pilgrimage and almsgiving, and substituted for them four articles 
of faith relating to the knowledge of God, of Hamzah, the 
ministers, and the seven moral precepts.! These precepts enjoin 
the love of truth in speech, watching over one another’s safety, 
renouncing other religions, recognizing the existence in all ages 
of the principle of divine unity in al-Hakim and acquiescing in 
his actions whatever they be.? 

On account of this, orthodox Islam never hesitated to exclude 
Druzism from its fold. In fact certain conservative canonists, 
like the puritan ibn-Taymiyyah (1263-1328 A.D.), whose legal 
system greatly influenced the rise of the Wahhabi movement in 
Nejd, went so far as to express a religious opinion (fatwa) 
favoring “ warring against the Druzes as a more meritorious duty 
than warring against the Armenians, because the former are in- 
cluded in the Moslem territory but are not of it.” 3 

The Mystic Element:—Akin to the esoteric conception of the 
scriptures is the principle of mysticism which found its highest 
expression in Islam in the Sufi movement and traces of which are 
prominent in the Druze initiate view of life. Sufism began as 
asceticism, became in succession mystical and ‘theosophical, and 
finally advanced to extreme pantheism. The four principal 
sources of Siifism are Christianity, Neo-Platonism, Gnosticism 
and Buddhism. The Neo-Platonic character of Moslem Stfism 
has been rendered clear by the contributions of two English 
scholars, E.G. Browne and R. A. Nicholson. It would, however, 
be a mistake to ignore entirely the influence of the Buddhist view 
upon the later development of historic Sufism, especially after 
Islam had spread eastward to the confines of China and brought 
Indian thought within its horizon. The encyclopaedic author of 
al-Fibrist* (+ 996) quotes at some length from an archaic version 


1 See Hamzah, Mithag al-Nisa’, MS. 

2 These precepts occur in many Druze MSS. See infra, p. 51. Baha’-al-Din 
devotes one tract to each one of them. Cf. Guys, Théogonie, op. cit., pp. 77-84. 

8 Al“Umari, al-Ta'rif bi-al-Mustalah al-Sharif (Cairo, 1312 A.H.); Cf. al- 
Qalqashandi, Subb al-A' sha (Cairo, 1918), XII, 248-249. 

4 Op. cit., p. 347- 


of a Buddhist book. The monumental piece of Arabic literature 
al-Aghani' has left us at least one portrayal of an unmistakable 
Buddhistic view of life. And the Zindiq monks, described by 
al-Jahiz,2 were, according to Goldziher, “ Either Indian Sadhus, 
or Buddhist monks or at least their imitators.” 3 Under Indian 
influence the pantheistic idea in Sufi Islam becomes more ap- 
parent. 

Sheikhs: —The Druzes share with their intellectual ancestors 
—the Sufis, Isma‘iliyyah and Qaramitah—both the esoteric 
interpretation of the law and the mystical outlook on life. 
Their community is divided into ‘Ugqal, initiate, intelligent, 
spiritual; and Juhhal, uninitiate, ignorant, worldly. A course 
suf* (wool) outer garment is the distinguishing dress of the 
former, among whom the most meritorious Ajawid lead an 
almost ascetic life. 

The ‘Uggal are also called “ Sheikhs,”5 an Arabic word con- 
noting old age, seniority and respect. This word has in recent 
years been introduced into the English language and corrupted 
in both pronunciation and meaning. 

To the high rank of enlightened ‘Ugqal, no one can aspire 
whose character has not marked him out as one entirely trust- 
worthy and capable of extreme secrecy. Before admission, 
however, he must be subjected to a rigorous process of long 
trial and probation. Then follows the ceremonial rite of in- 
duction. This secret ceremony has been witnessed and described 
by only one or two outsiders throughout the whole history of 
the Druze religion. 


1 Cairo edition (20 vols.), II, 24—Sumniyyah is the term applied to the © 
Indian sects which influenced many Moslems. 

2 Kitab al-Hayawan (Cairo, 1323 A.H.), IV, 146-147. 

3 Vorlesungen, op. Ccit., p. 160. ms 

4 For the origin of the word “Sufi” from s#f=wool, see Nodldeke in 
ZDMG, XLVII, 47. ; 

5 The middle vowel is pronounced long like “i” in “ bite,” and the final 
“kh” is guttural, something like the German “ ch.” Cf. “ Usi e Credenze dei 
Drusi” in Oriente Moderno (Rome, 1925), V;, pp. 469-472. 


Once admitted to the favored rank, the Sheikh begins to wear 
a heavy white turban, and abstains from gaudy colors, swearing 
and obscene language. His deportment becomes dignified and 
reserved. Under no condition is he thereafter to touch alcoholic 
liquor or to smoke. He may even refrain from eating at the 
table of a wealthy man or government official lest something of 
the money used in buying the food might have been illegitimately 
acquired. 


CHAPTER VI 
DOGMAS AND PRECEPTS 


I. TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS 


The Druze belief in metempsychosis is very popular and 
strong and, in contrast to their other beliefs, is professed openly 
by the believers. The writer’s impression of stories told him by 
schoolmates in the Lebanon regarding newly-born children who 
made utterances involving memories of former incarnations 
is still vivid and clear in his mind. A story that found great 
circulation in the local press of Syria in the last few months 
relates how a Druze leader in one of the recent raids against the 
French stood on a bridge at Wadi-al-Taym and declared to his 
men that some fifty years ago he was killed on that same spot 
where he was this time leading his men.! 

Method of Operation: —According to thelearned Druze doctrine, 
the principle of transmigration of souls operates only from one 
human body to another. All souls were created at once from 
the “light of Hamzah” and their actual number is “ neither 
increased by births nor decreased by deaths.”? The ignorant 
among them, however, hold popular beliefs involving reincarna- 
tion in animal forms, and that probably explains the erroneous 
statements made by many writers, including the statement in 
the Encyclopaedia of Islam,3 to the effect that they believe that 
the wicked return in bodies of dogs. 


1 Al-Machriq (Beiriit), June, 1926. For another story see I. J. Nakhlah, 
Hall al-Rumiiz fi Mu'taqad al-Duraz (Cairo, 1897), p. 38. 

2 Baha’-al-Din, Tamyiz al-Muwabbidin al-Ta iin, MS. 

3 Article “ Druzes” by Baron Carra de Vaux. The same mistake is made by 
William Ewing, Arab and Druze at Home (London, 1907), p. 88. Cf. F. J. Bliss, 
The Religions of Modern Syria and Palestine (New York, 1912), p. 308; and 
J. T. Parfit, Druzes and the Secret Sects of Syria (Westminster, 1917), p. 26, 
Among the Druzes of Lebanon and Bashan (London, 1917), pp. 235-236; Hanna 
abi-Rashid, Jabal al-Duraz (Cairo, 1925), p. 44. 


In his epistle refuting the arguments of the Nusayri,! Hamzah 
utterly rejects the doctrine of transmigration, stating that “if 
anyone believes in it as the Nusayriyyah do, he loses both this 
and the next world.” The Druze catechism, formulated long 
after the days of Baha’-al-Din and Hamzah, teaches that the 
infidels and apostates are metamorphosed into dogs and swine? 
as well as menial servants. 

Earlier Moslem Sects Believing in Transmigration: —That the 
Druzes had within the fold of Islam various precursors in the 
doctrine of metempsychosis is demonstrated by the fact that 
al-Baghdadi? and ibn-al-Jawzi4 each devote a whole chapter 
to Ashab al-Tanasukh, 1.e., the believers in transmigration. 
Ibn-Hazm,} al-Shahrastani,® and al-Maqrizi7 have many references 
to such sects, chief among which stood al-Kaysaniyyah, and 
al-Ha’itiyyah. Stories intended to show the amusing possibilities 
of return in form of animals are recorded in various books of 
Arabic literature. 

One of the most popular of these stories is that related of 
al-Sayyid al-Himyari who believed in transmigration. A certain 
man came and asked him for a loan of money promising to 
repay it on his (debtor’s) return to life. “Well,” said al-Sayyid, 
“but even more than that, you should offer a guarantee that 
you will return in the form of a man.” “How else can I return?” 
asked the would-be debtor. “I am afraid,” retorted the shrewd 
Sayyid, “that you will return as a dog or pig, and my money 
will then be lost!”8 


1 Al-Radd ‘Ala al-Risalah al-Damighah li-al-Fasiq, MS. 

2 See the translation of “A Catechism of the Druze Religion ” in Palestine 
Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement (London, 1886), pp. 39-40. | 

3 Ed. Hitti, pp. 164-165. See also al-Baghdadi, al-Farq bayn al-Firaq ed. Badr, 
PP. 253-259. 

4 Op. cit., pp. 85-86. 5 Op. cit., IV, 182. 8 °'Op. cite, Theres 

7 Al-Khitat (Cairo, 1853), Il, 347, 352, 354- 

8 Al-Aghani, VII, 8; al-Kutubi, Fawat al-Wafayat (Cairo, 1866), I, 25. 
See also al-Jahiz, Kitab al-Hayawan, VI, 24; ibn-al-Jawzi, p. 86; Alf Laylah 
wa-Laylah (Catholic Press, Beirtit), I, 41; al-Ma'arri, “ Risalatu’l-Ghufran,” 
Journal Royal Asiatic Society (1902), XXXIV, 354-355 and 840. 


a Rates 


The Manichaean doctrine of the soul, and of its lot here- 
after, recognized a division of mankind into three classes: Elect, 
Hearers and Sinners; the Elect alone being exempt from retribution 
through rebirth in some lower form.! 

When carried to its logical conclusion, as in the case of 
the Druze philosophy, the doctrine of transmigration dispenses 
altogether with the necessity for paradise and hell and takes the 
place of a final judgment. The time of the triumphal “ return ” 
of al-Hakim and the complete victory of his Unitarian religion, 
resulting in awarding high worldly offices to the faithful and 
punishing the renegades and unbelievers by assigning them to 
hard and menial labor, corresponds to the resurrection day. 

Relation to China: —Whether this Moslem belief is of Western 
Pythagorean or of Eastern Indian origin is hard to ascertain, with 
the balance of evidence in favor of the East. Ibn-al-Jawzi? states 
that it appeared first “in the days of the Pharaoh of Moses,” 
which is correct if taken to mean that it was of ultimate Egyptian 
origin. Al-Shahrastani3 declares that the Moslem heterodoxies 
received this teaching from the Mazdakian Magians, Brahman 
Indians, the philosophers, and Mandaeans.4 

In the case of the Druzes, to whom China seems to be a sort 
of a heaven, the eastern source has evidently impressed itself 
strongly upon the popular imagination. When a good Druze is 
dead in the Lebanon, he is supposed to be reborn in China. The 
writer remembers hearing more than once at Druze funerals the 
chorus of a song which ran as this: “Happy are the people of 
China at the hour of your arrival!” (Niyyal ahl al-Sin sa‘at 
wasltak). "The Druzes have always been conscious of the fact 


1 A.V. Williams Jackson, “ The Doctrine of Metempsychosis in Manichaeism,” 
Journal American Oriental Society, Sept., 1925, pp. 247 and 268; Burkitt, op. cit., 
pp- 63-65. 

2 Op. cit., p. 85. 

3 Op. cit., Il, 12. 

4 Al-Sabi ah in Arabic mentioned in the Koran three times (2:59, 5:73, 
22:17) where with the Jews and Christians they were assured religious tolerance. 
“ The philosophers ” referred to are undoubtedly the Hellenistic philosophers. 


that people in the Far East hold the same views regarding the 
transmigration of souls.! 

It is interesting to note in this connection that Benjamin of 
Tudela? calls the inhabitants of Khandy (Ceylon) by the same. 
name as the people around Sidon—Druzes. He was probably 
impressed by the similarity of belief in transmigration among the 
two peoples and concluded that they must have been the same. 


Il. PREDESTINATION AND DISSIMULATION 


In the theory of predestination, the Druzes follow in the 
footsteps of the Jabriyyah school of Islamic thought as opposed 
to the Qadariyyah.? The problem of reconciling the Almightiness 
of Allah with the free-will of man was the very first rock over 
which dogmatic Islam split, these two sects constituting the 
earliest dogmatic schism in Islam. 

The Koran abounds in passages the interpretation of which 
favors a predestination philosophy of life. Strah 3, verses 26—27 
reads: “Say, O God, master of the universe, thou bestowest the 
rule upon whom thou wilt, and thou takest away the rule from 
~ whom thou wilt; thou exaltest whomsoever thou wilt, and thou 
humblest whomsoever thou wilt. In thy hand is all good, for 
thou art all-powerful. Thou causest the night to succeed the 
day, and thou causest the day to succeed the night. Thou 
bringest forth the living out of the dead, and thou bringest forth 
the dead out of the living. And thou providest sustenance to 
whom thou wilt, without measure.” 

Shi'ite Contribution: —The ethical principle of dissimulation 
(taqiyyah), practiced to the present day by the Druzes, was 
a fundamental tenet of Shi‘ah, to which the partisans of ‘Ali had 
resort as a result of the handicaps and persecutions to which they 
were subjected by orthodox (Sunni) Islam during both the 


1 Mr. Kisbany suggests the possibility that the use of “Sin” in this con- 
nection is an esoteric one of the ancient Babylonian word sin for moon. 

2 Travels (London, 1848), p. 115. 

3 D.B. Macdonald, Muslim Theology, op. cit.. pp. 127-137. 


Umayyad and ‘Abbasid periods. The theory is an old one in 
Islam, based upon the Koran, 3 : 28—29: “Let not the believers - 
choose the infidels for protectors in preference to other believers. 
He who doth this hath no claim upon Allah, unless he doth it 
in dissimulation (taqiyyah) and for protection... Whether ye 
conceal what is in your breasts, or whether ye proclaim it, Allah 
knoweth it, for he knoweth whatever is in the heavens and 
whatever is on earth.” The Khariites, antedating the Shi‘ah, 
recognized its legitimacy. The Shi'ite contribution to it consisted 
of the point that when a believer is in a place where his adversaries 
are in the ascendancy, not only may he profess outwardly the 
form of the prevailing religion but he must do so in order to 
protect himself and his coreligionists.! 

The historical illustration of this principle, as it worked out 
in the case of the Druzes, took place in the thirties of the last 
century when the Egyptian Ibrahim Pasha insisted on enforcing 
his conscription laws and many Druzes, in order to evade 
the draft, began to patronize the Christian churches of their 
Maronite neighbors. A few years ago when the great Druze 
leader, al-Amir Mustafa Arislan, who had held many high 
governmental positions under the Turks, died, his funeral 
services were conducted according to the Sunni Moslem rites. 

This principle must have attached itself to more than one of 
the secret religions in pre-Islamic days. It has its modern applica- 
tions in the case of the Persian and Syrian Baha’is, the Domneh 
Jews of Salonika (of whom the famous Turkish minister Djevid 
Bey is supposed to have been one), and the Stavriote* Greeks 


of Asia Minor who after the proclamation of the constitution — 


in 1908 put off the Moslem garb and reasserted their Christianity 
which they had practiced in hiding. 


1 Goldziher, Le dogme et la loi, trans. Félix Arin (Paris, 1920), pp. 169-170. 
See also ZDMG, op. cit. LX, 213 seq. 

2 These crypto-Christian Greeks are called in the Levant “ Mezzo-Mezzos.” 
Leon Dominian, Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe (New York, 
1917), P. 277. 


tt. ‘THE CULT OF THE CALF 


The Fact:—Persistent local rumor continues to associate “ calf 
worship” with the Druze religion, but the Druzes themselves 
have with equal persistence and vehemence denied it. No worse 
curse could even today be levelled against a Druze in the 
Lebanon than to call him “calf worshiper.” Certain travelers 
like Pococke! gave credence to the report; others including 
Volney 2 rejected it. That there is jealously guarded and hidden 
from the uninitiate eye, in one of their leading places of seclusion 
(khalwah), of which there are about forty in the Lebanon,? some 
gold figure of a calf or bull inside of a silver box has been 
almost ascertained beyond doubt. A high Druze sheikh has 
practically admitted in a recent interview the existence of such 
a box.4 Paul Casanova reports in the Revue archéologique® the 
discovery of a baked clay figure of a ram or sheep with the name 
of al-Hakim inscribed on it. Passages in the tracts of Hamzah 6 
and Baha’-al-Din’ referring in a derogatory manner to the “ calf” 
and the “worshipers of the calf” are not lacking, but one passage 
in the epistle entitled a/-Asrar (Secrets or Mysteries) has clear and 
unmistakable reference to “the box in which is the figure of the 
incarnation of our Lord.” 8 

Its Interpretation:—The question, in view of the secrecy that 
surrounds the cult and the ambiguity of some of the references, 
is one of interpretation. De Sacy9 explains the calf as the 
emblem of Jblis (devil), the enemy and rival of al-Hakim. Colonel 


1.4 Description of the East, op. cit., p. 94. 

2 Volney, Voyage en Egypte et en Syrie (Paris, 1825) (CEwvres, t. Il), p. 409. 

3 Article “Duriz,” Da’irat al-Ma‘arif, ed. B. Bustany (Beirit, 1876-1900). 

4 W.B. Seabrook, “The Golden Calf of the Druzes,” Asia (New York), 
March, 1926. See also Revue de l’Orient, X, 238. 

5 Year 1891, “ Figurine en terre cuite avec inscription arabe.” See also Blochet, 
Le Messtanisme, op. cit., p. 98, n. 1. 

6 Al-Ghayah w-al-Nasibah, MS. In al-Sirah al-Mustagimah, MS., the statement 
is made that in Plato’s (/flatun) legislation there was no “ calf worship.” 

7 Risalat al-Wadi, MS. 

8 This epistle is printed in part in Adler, op. cit., p. 136. 

9 Exposé, op. cit., II, 235. 

Hitti. 


Churchill states that Hamzah, indignant at the treachery of his 
emissary, Darazi, denounced him as the “calf whom a deluded 
people had set up as their idol.”! Lieut.-Col. Conder considers 
it “a relic of older paganism” which they keep in their solitary 
meeting places “ only to treat with insult and contempf.” 2 

If and when the calf cult is proved in the case of the Druze 
religion, some connection will then be sought with earlier 
cognate Israelitish and Egyptian cults. Animal worship has 
greatly figured in Oriental religions, and Christianity bears 
traces of its survival. 


IV. SEVEN PRECEPTS OF HAMZAH 


Eight Dogmas:—The chief dogmas of Druze belief, which 
we have hitherto tried to analyze and trace back to Moslem, 
Christian, Jewish, Neo-Platonic and Manichaean ancestry can be 
summed up under eight main formulas. 

The first dogma is the confession of the unity of God. The 
second is the belief in successive manifestations of the deity in 
- human form. The third is the acceptance of al-Hakim as the last 
and greatest of these divine incarnations. The fourth is the 
recognition of the five superior ministers who partake of the 
divine essence. The fifth is the consideration of Hamzah, the 
first minister, as the supreme ruler of the age (Wali-al-Zaman). 
The sixth is the belief in the philosophic concept of predestination. 
The seventh is the belief in the transmigration of souls. The 
eighth is the observance of the seven precepts of Hamzah who, 
on behalf of al-Hakim, absolved his followers from the obligations — 
of Islam and instituted these new precepts for them. 

The obligations of Islam, the so-called “five pillars,” are: the 
testimony that God is one and that Muhammad is his apostle, 
fasting, prayer, pilgrimage, and almsgiving. No one who does 
not practice these five can have any claim on orthodox Islam. 


1 Charles H. Churchill, The Druzes and Maronites under the Turkish Rule 
(London, 1862), p. 12. | 
2 The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, op. cit., p. 234. 


Hamzah’s Precepts: —The first precept of Hamzah enjoins 
veracity in speech; the second, protection and mutual aid to the 
brethren in faith; the third, renunciation of all forms of former 
worship and false belief; the fourth, repudiation of the devil 
(blis) and all forces of evil; the fifth, confession of the unity of 
the Hakim-God; the sixth, acquiescence in his acts no matter 
what they be; and the seventh, absolute submission and resignation 
to his divine will in both secret and public.! 

Sources and Operation: —The first two precepts enunciated by 
the founder of Druzism are ethical in their nature and therefore 
difficult to trace back to their origin. The genealogy of the third 
and fourth is likewise difficult to ascertain. The fifth is the 
dogma we treated before, and the rest are corollaries from 
that dogma. The operation of the first precept is, of course, 
circumscribed by the already established law of dissimulation. 

Of these principles the second has perhaps been the most 
potent force in the life and history of the Druze people. It has 
made of the Druze community one compact social body, 
presenting more the aspects of a religious fraternal order than 
a sect. This fraternal feature is one of the distinctive characteristics 
of the Druze people and has, in a large measure, contributed to 
their survival to the present day. It has enabled them at the 
time of crisis to act in unison and as one body moved primarily 
by motives of self-interest and by the instinct of self-preservation. 


1 These precepts occur in most of their leading religious tracts. 


CHAPTER Vil i 
FOREGO: 


we are not particularly el ia de Basi 0 
present, in general, animistic, pantheistic and po 
of ancient beliefs which those people held bef 
into, and profession of, Islam. Many of ther 
or other, are shared by their neighbors, C aris 
alike. The belief in magic and in the cil ye 
widespread. 4 

A venerable oak-tree in ‘Alayh, Lehane by : 
many times, was ordinarily sO bedecked gis 


1 See Appendix F, | rates 
2 For other illustrations of the folklore, see ‘ iy « Druzes: ‘ 
Fund Quarterly Statement, 1889, pp.120-126. a 
3 Al-Radd ‘ala al-Risalah mince lsal- Fas a ae 


croc htt SW haes 


who visited the Lebanon around 1165 a.p. and wrote that the 
Druzes “live incestuously” and once every year assemble and 
“hold promiscuous intercourse,”! similar charges have been 
brought against them, as they are against most secret cults, 
without much to substantiate them. There is, however, more 
to justify charges of nocturnal orgies and phallic worship against 
the Nusayriyyah of Syria and the ‘Ali-Ilahis of Liristan.? 

The secrecy with which the Druzes hold their Thursday 
evening meetings in their secluded khalwahs, which meetings are 
attended also by the initiated women sitting behind a partition, 
has undoubtedly contributed to the rise of such suspicions. 
The khalwahs usually crown the hilltops, and the meetings 
consist principally of the perusal and explanation of the sacred 
writings, some of which are chanted. The writings of Hamzah 
and Baha’-al-Din, together with the commentaries of al-Sayyid 
‘Abdullah, constitute the favorite readings. The early part of 
certain sessions is open for the uninitiated Druzes. The latter 
part of the evening is usually consumed with political and social 
discussions. 

Hamzites versus Darazites:—Nevertheless, it is admitted by 
the Druzes themselves that Darazi, the disreputed missionary 
whose name the Druzes reluctantly bear, in order to swell the 
ranks of his converts did sanction some licentious and libertine 
principles. But he was later discredited and deposed by his 
superior Hamzah from the position he aspired to maintain as the 
head of the Druze religion. The liberties introduced by Darazi 
were evidently too seducing in their appeal to be entirely 
abandoned and to this day the line of cleavage between the purer 


1 Early Travels in Palestine... Travels of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela (London, 
1848), p. 80. This “fete des bougies” is described by “St. Ed.” in Revue de 
POrient, 2° sér. (Paris, 1841), IV, 140. 

2 Sir Henry Layard, Early Adventures in Persia, Susiana, and Babylonia 
(London, 1887), I, 217 and II, 318; C.R. Conder, Syrian Stone-Lore (London, 
1896), p. 423. 

3 Hamzah denounces him bitterly in a tract entitled al-Ghayah w-al- 
Nasihah, MS. 


In the introduction of his unscrupulous libertinism, Darazi as 
following the precedent of the Qaramitah,! sometimes c 
7 santa! and the y Bolsheviks of Islam.” 4 ie ee ; 


organization; but divorce is easy. The Enbyplonedee of pi 
probably misled by Volney,? erroneously states that cae ‘2 
polygamy. They intermarry among themselves only. ied 


attention. 


1 Al-Baghdadi, ed. Hitti, pp. 175-176, 180. According to the 
the Kharijite Mayminiyyah (p. 169) sanctioned the ina, ‘ 
to grandparents, and nieces to uncles. 

' 2 Article “ Druzes.” 

3 ae Cites 1 425. 


APPENDICES 
PORINING EXTRACTS FROM. 
UZE SACRED WRITINGS 


4, 


aa 


ees 


= 


oe ee eee ee ee ee ae. 


APPENDIX A 


COVENANT OF INDUCTION INTO THE 
eer N OF THE RULER. OF THE AGE 


(MITHAQ WALI-AL-ZAMAN) 


My trust I lay in our lord al-Hakim, the only one, the unique, 
the eternal; he who is above duplication and number. 

So and so the son of so and so, being sound in mind and body, 
and out of his own free will and accord, without duress and 
constraint, confesses, in a way that makes it binding upon 
himself and can be used as a testimony against his soul, that he 
has hereby renounced all sects, doctrines, religions and beliefs— 
no matter what their character may be; that he now recognizes 
nothing but obedience to our lord al-Hakim (may the mention 
of his name be glorified!), obedience being adoration; that he shall 
not include in his worship anyone else, past, present or expected; 
that he has surrendered his soul, his body, his possessions, his 
children and everything he owns to our lord al-Hakim (may the 
mention of his name be glorified!); and that he has acquiesced in 
all his decisions—be they for or against him—without objecting 
to, or disapproving of, any of his [al-Hakim’s] actions, whether 
they be pleasing or displeasing to him. In case he forsakes the 
religion of our lord al-Hakim, to which he submits by this 
writing and which he holds as a witness against his soul, or uses 
it as a cover for some other religion, or disobeys any of its 
commandments, then he is no more entitled to the protection of 
the Creator the adored, and is deprived of all the advantages 
bestowed by the ministers [of the Unitarian religion], and merits 
the chastisement meted out by al-Bar! the exalted (may the 


_ mention of his name be glorified!). 


1 One of the honorific titles of al-Hakim. See supra, p. 20. 


Whoso confesses that to him there is no god in heaven worthy 
of adoration, and no imam on earth in a state of existence 
other than our lord al-Hakim (may the mention of his name be 
glorified !), becomes one of the victorious Unitarians. | 

Written in such a month of such a year of the era of 
the servant of our Lord! (may the mention of his name be 
glorified!) and of his slave, Hamzah ibn- Ali ibn-Ahmad, he 
who guides those who respond, and wreaks vengeance on the 
polytheists and apostates by means of the sword of our Lord 
(may the mention of his name be glorified!) and by the great 
force of his power alone. 


1 Al-Hakim is the Lord, and Hamzah is his servant. 


APPENDIX B 


AL-HAKIM’S ORDINANCE PROHIBITING 
are USE OF WINE 


In‘the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful. 

Praise be to Allah who has rendered Islam strong and 
dear through its pious saints, and has entrusted its laws to the 
imams of his religion and to his blessed confidants who have 
preserved them! And may Allah’s grace be upon our grand- 
father Muhammad, the seal of the prophets and the chief of all 
messengers—may Allah’s grace be upon him and upon all 
members of his holy family! 

The Commander of the Believers, duly authorized by Allah 
and entrusted by him with the management of the affairs of both 
religion and state over which his word is supreme, is devoting all 
his energy, judgment, and deliberations to defend these two insti- 
tutions, to guard them against any damage that may find its way 
into them, to promote their interests and welfare, to strengthen 
the agencies that make firm their foundations, to give prefer- 
ence to whatsoever maintains their organization, and to preserve 
whatever alterations and modifications have been introduced for 
their perfection and completion. Allah (may he remain majestic 
and glorious!) accords his support to the Commander of the 
Believers in all that conforms to his favor, and enables him to 
succeed in accomplishing whatever makes him merit his favor 
and pleasure and deserve his grace and his power. 

Verily the measure that will produce the most useful results 
to Islam and the Moslems, and that will contribute more than 
any other measure to the maintenance of the fundamentals of 
our religion, is to declare a general prohibition for everybody 
against the use of intoxicating liquor, and to deny them the 
right of insisting upon the drinking of intoxicating liquor which 


Faas Novant ek 


is the center of all sorts of evil and the conductor to all kinds of 
detestable and abhorrent acts. 
The Commander of the Believers has therefore ofdadiag! 
expecting from Allah success, that this edict be written so that 
it be read to the privileged classes as well as to the common 
people, whether they be high in rank or low, making illegal the 
use of any kind of intoxicating liquor, no matter what its brand, 


name, color or taste may be (liquor being used here to include 


every kind of drink, whether it be intoxicating in large or in 
small quantities), and prohibiting all resort to the sayings and 
opinions justifying its use together with all interpretations and 
excuses which the rabble hold fast to; for the Commander 
of the Believers has declared all that illegal, after having heard 
all things connected with it. He has prohibited the use of 
intoxicating liquor, its purchase, storage, manufacture, and 
extraction to the end that the whole empire may be purified 
of its evil effects. 

The execution of this edict he has left as a trust in the hands of 
those of his officials who are ever loyal to him, and as a sign of 
allegiance in charge of his counsellors and those who are faithful to 
him, holding them responsible for investigating all cases and sub- 
mitting full reports regarding their findings. The Commander of 
the Believers himself has thus become discharged before Allah of 
all responsibility and evil consequence in this world and in the next. 

Let all the godly, the believers, and those included within the 
fold of true religion know that this is issued by the Commander 
of the Believers; and let them do accordingly. Let them un- 
hesitatingly obey its command and beware of violating it; for 
the Commander of the Believers has prepared for the enemies 


of his ordinance painful punishment and shameful degradation. __ 


And Allah alone is all-sufficient to the Commander of the 
Believers and the best one to depend upon. 

Written in the month of Dhu-al-Qa‘dah, 400. 

Praise be to Allah alone, and may his grace be upon is 
Messenger, the seal of the prophets, as well as upon his holy | 
family ; and may he give them peace! | 


APPENDIX C 


Peoen?y! FROM THE CHARTER*FOUND 
Posteo ON THE WALLS OF THE MOSQUES 
ON THE OCCASION OF THE DISAPPEARANCE 

OF OUR LORD AL-IMAM AL-HAKIM 


The friend of Allah, the Commander of the Believers, has at 
last abandoned all mortals to themselves wandering in their 
desert and in their state of blindness which they had preferred 
to guidance—just as Moses had abandoned his people—until 
perdition came near attacking them while they were unaware. 
He made his exit from their midst while they were in a state 
of doubt regarding him, disagreeing among themselves and 
faltering between different opinions, neither rendering obedience 
to truth nor returning to the friend of Allah. Allah has said: 
“But if they had referred it to Allah, to his Apostle and to those 
in authority among them, it would have become clear to those 
of them who fail to understand it.” ! 

O you people! The word of Allah (may he remain high!) 
is the most eloquent preacher, and what is clear from this 
sermon to you is your poverty and your need for the pardon 
of Allah (may he remain high!) and the pardon of his friend, 
the Commander of the Believers, upon whom Allah’s peace is 
more abundant than upon you. Oblivion leads to negligence, 
negligence leads to rebellion, and rebellion leads to perdition. 
For Allah (may his name remain blessed and high!) has said: 
“But if they, having wronged themselves had come to thee 
asking Allah’s forgiveness, and if the Apostle had asked for- 
giveness for them, they would surely have found Allah a for- 


1 Cf. Koran 4:85. 


ree Or ee es 


giving and merciful one.”! The greatest of all sayers [Allah] 
has also said: “Excepting those who shall repent and believe and 
do righteous works,” 2 “for verily Allah loveth those who seek 
his indulgence and loveth those who wish to purify themselves.”3 _ 
Allah (may he remain blessed and high!) has moreover said: 
“And when my worshipers ask thee concerning me, [say] I am 
nigh unto them, ready to answer the supplication of him that 
calleth, when he calleth unto me.” 4 

Hasten, therefore, hasten, O you people! If you stand upon | 
a desolate tract of land, then your eyes shall be directed towards — 
the first road5 which was pursued by the Commander of the 
Believers (may Allah’s peace be upon him!) when he disappeared. 
Assemble there, yourselves and your children, purify your 
hearts and make your intentions sincere toward Allah, the 
Lord of the universe. Repent before him in a true manner and 
beseech him by the best methods of supplication leading to 
pardon and forgiveness, so that he may show mercy to you by © 
according you the return of his friend, and may turn his heart — 
in compassion toward you; for he is mercy unto you and unto © 
all his creation in accordance with what Allah (may he remain 
blessed and high!) has said to his Messenger [Muhammad] (may 
Allah’s grace be upon him and upon his kin!): “We have not — 
sent thee other than as mercy unto all creatures.” ® 

But beware, beware lest any of you should try to trace the 
steps of the Commander of the Believers (may Allah’s blessing - 
be upon him!), or should attempt to discover any information 
whatsoever!7 Cease not at the beginning of the road to reiterate 


1 Koran 4: 67. 
2 Ibid. 25:70. 
3 Tbid. 2: 222. 
4 Ibid. 2: 182. 


5 This is the road leading outside of Cairo toward al-Mugattam and which : see 
al-Hakim followed when he took his usual evening promenades including the eA 


Jast one resulting in his disappearance. 

6 Koran 21: 107. 

7 This may indicate that Hamzah, who was probably the one who drew this 
Charter, had a hand in the conspiracy that resulted in the murder of al-Hakim. 


your prayer: “Behold our dwelling place!” And when the time 
comes for mercy to dawn upon you then shall the friend of 
Allah [al-Hakim] appear before you by his own accord, met) 
satisfied with your conduct, visible in your midst. 

Persist in the practice of these exercises, by day and by ae 
until the last day arrives, and the hour of judgment strikes, and 
the door of mercy is closed, and vengeance befalls all people of 
disobedience and disbelief. “He is fully excused who has amply 
forewarned,” ! he has nothing to blame upon himself with regard 
- to your case: he has given you full warning. 

This is addressed to the people of intelligence among you; it 
is they who are particularly meant by it. It is the will of Allah 
(may he remain blessed and high!), and through him all success 
is achieved. 

Peace be upon whomsoever follows guidance, fears the evil 
results of impiety, and believes in the excellent words of his Lord! 


1 A common Arabic saying. 


APPENDIX D 


EXCERETE FROM 


of Qilatus,? was aReH a arose on. the ee day 
recorded in the Gospel of Jone — two, 


day in which he declared his mission and elisa 
to the religion of Unity and truth and revealed | 
nations as a “true God from a true God.” Byt 
that the Creator (may his power remain ea A 


1 Constantine VIII (1025-1028 A.D.). aot Bar 
2 Pontius Pilate. ee . ‘ i er o . 
8 Cy. John 2 2: 19-22. . c 


5 Arabic sidg, always spelled in the ban MSS. with a | 
so that the numerical value of the letters composing it may | 
is the number of the Druze ministers and missionaries. = 


Meee Nee 


not a nonentity so that it becomes necessary to use arguments to 
prove his existence to all his creation. Contemplate the truths 
of this assertion and beseech the Lord of guidance and might to 
accord you success. 

As for the second day, that is the day of the appearance of 
the Paraclete.! Jesus has announced the Paraclete and predicted 
his coming, as Jesus has said in the Gospel of John: “ Moses has 
written about me and predicted the mention of my name.” 2 
As for the Paraclete, he is Muhammad, who is one of the legis- 
lators by whom I mean: Noah, Abraham, and Moses who 
appeared prior to the lord Messiah. And behold the saying of 
Jesus in the fifteenth chapter,? when he realized the coming of 
the Paraclete, z.e., Muhammad: “If you loved me you would 
rejoice at my departure to my Father, for my Father has a son 
who is greater than I. And now I have said this to you before 
it comes to pass, so when it comes to pass you shall believe in 
me.” He did not say “believe in him.” Then follows: “I shall 
not say many things to you, because the chief of this world shall 
come, and he has nothing in common with me. But this is so 
that people may know that I love my father.” 

The world withal never understood the meaning of his sayings. 
Jesus said that he [the Paraclete = Muhammad] is the chief of 
this world only, and not of the next. This position, he—as well 
as the other legislators—attained, in fulfillment of the wisdom of 
the Creator, in order to have the case clear against mankind, one 
generation after another, and to render them subject to blame 
and condemnation; for they failed to follow what the Creator 
(may his power remain exalted!) had commanded them regarding 
the confession of Unity, which they forsook reverting by tradition 
to the worship of falsehood. 

Referring to the Paraclete, Jesus said: “He has nothing in 
common with me.” This is simply to inform you that he shall 


1 Arabic faraqlit = Comforter, Holy Ghost. 

2 Cf. John 5: 46. 

3 Tt is in John 14: 28-31. 

Hitti. 5 


not call mankind to a belief in the adorable Unity, as the Lord 
[Hamzah] shall call you to find the Creator in the Hakim-God, 
worthy of adoration. 3 

As for the third day, it is the rise of al-Mahdi! (may Allah’s 
blessing be upon him!) in order to call mankind to the inner 
interpretation of the four books which show the people of truth 
the fact of Unity. These four books are: the Psalter, the Torah 
[Bible], the Evangile and the Koran. 

His [al-Mahdi’s] epistles and proofs were received in their time 
by Constantine, the emperor of the Christians, and there is no 
doubt but that a record thereof is kept by the leading savants 
of that period, because his message differed from that of the 
other legislators who are weak; he having called people to the 
belief in the last day signalized by the appearance of the lord 
Messiah. 

When, then, a man of understanding considers, and when 
a wise man, wishing to learn, removes the veil from a wide- 
awake, seeing and knowing heart, he would find out that 
al-Mahdi (may peace be upon him!) appeared and called to 
a belief in the inner interpretation of the aforementioned four 
books in the days of Constantine I, and that the lord Messiah 
[Hamzah] appeared calling to a belief in Unity in the days of © 
Constantine II. People of intelligence would certainly find in 
this something to restrain them; and anyone possessed with 
the least notions of the science of truths would find material 
for reflection. 

The third day is the complement of the first, according to 
the seventh chapter of the Gospel of John.2, When the brothers 
of Jesus said to him: “Depart from here, so that your disciples 
may see the things you are doing, because no one should do 
a thing in secret, and reveal yourself to the world,” the brothers 
of Jesus had not then believed in him. So Jesus said to them: 
“As for my time it has not arrived in realization,” by which 


1 Sa‘id al-Mahdi, one of the missionaries preceding al-Hakim. 
2 John 7: 6. 


he meant that his day was not yet completed. It is completed 
only when Jesus announces that he is ready to come again [into 
this world]. 

By his saying, “As-‘for your time it is always ready,” he meant 
to inform them that the time in which he was going to declare 
the word of Unity was not yet completed and had not yet come, 
but that their time—that is the time of those who did not know 
the word of Unity—was always ready. That is the last day 
which is the completion of the first. In it he [the lord Messiah] 
has manifested his glory and his praise and has shown himself 
to his apostles as he had promised them in chapter sixteen,! 
saying: “I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but 
the will of him who sent me. The will of him who sent me is 
that whosoever obeys me him will I resurrect on the last day; 
for this is the pleasure of my Father. For everyone who sees the 
son and believes in him is entitled to everlasting life which is 
fixed to the last day.” 

Written seven days before the end of Safar, in the eleventh 
year of the era of the Ruler of the Age [Hamzah] at the end 
of the seventh year from the “disappearance [of al-Hakim] for 
our test.”2 This is the end; and praise be to our lord al-Hakim 
alone, and thanks to the Messiah of the nations [Hamzah] and 
their guide, his servant. 


1 John 6: 38-40 and 47. 
2 Corresponding to March 23, 1028 A.D. 


people of truth, hold fast to the belie in it hes ‘the 
be they priest, bishop or patriarch. Peace bes “upon t 


apostles, who know the creed of tice ‘trustec ae 
whose souls are pure, who are steadfast i in their | 


their own souls, and who offer their lives i in ee 
loyal one, the high priest, the martyr of marty: 
Evangelist, who sustained for the a of his 
slaughter and beheadedness! 2 eee 

One of the strangest things of the ae is hee 
have forgotten the fundamentals of their religion. 
has been forbidden them regarding loyalty to 
confessed by themselves the practice of what accord 
own books of worship is false and untrue, agreed amon 
selves to follow evil and iniquity, and have : 


known among the people of truth, near 


wicked beliefs. 


Where is then your loyalty to the Lord, O you assembly of 
hypocrites,! and where is your acceptance of his commandments, 
O liars, if you believe in him and trust in his return for the 
salvation of the people of truth from their sins? Did he not 
command you in the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew 
saying: “Love your enemies, bless them who curse you, do good 
to them who do evil to you, pray for them who drive you 
away by force and chase you out haughtily and arrogantly; so 
_ that you may become children to your father who is in the 
heavens, who makes his sun to shine upon the good and the 
evil, and his rain to fall upon the righteous and the wicked? 
For if you love those who love you, what reward or credit 
should be given you? Even the Pharisees may do this very 
thing itself.” 2 

O you stiff-necked and stupid ones, the remnant of idol 
worshipers! You have neither accepted him who gave you 
his commandment, recognized and remembered the one who 
announced to you beforehand his coming and directed his grace 
toward you, nor heard and obeyed his command. 

O liars! You rather have violated the covenant of his 
command, you assembly of hypocrites, and disobeyed the word 
of the Lord who forbade you to obey satans. In this, you 
traitors, you have followed the example of the rebellious 
Jews who killed and scared the prophets. Likewise you have 
perpetrated evil and mischief against those who announced the 
coming of the lord Messiah, and practiced polytheism and real 
atheism which he forbade. You then persecuted the apostles and 
among them the learned one—the faithful and truthful sheaikh— 
and in so doing you have deviated from the straight path, and 
forsaken the laws of the people of reality and of true religion, 
following the example of the priests and chiefs of the Jews in 


1 In the preceding Epistle to Constantine, Baha’-al-Din addresses the Christians 
as “assembly of saints,” because he was then still hopeful of winning them to 
the Druze religion. 

2 Cf. Matthew 5 : 44-47. 


some hare that has befallen it, gives him a fier il 
makes it impossible for him to administer the prt 


true Messiah. | 
Look, you heedless, but whence are an 
And understand, but how are you to under: 


you saw him with your very eyes.” 1 dic 
what you had done, and did not believe in 
You neither accepted the sermon of this cl 
respected the right of those who — - 
Christian nation. : 


APPENDIX F 


EXHORTATIONS AND PRAYERS 
BY AL-SAYYID ‘ABDULLAH AL-TANUKHI! 


I 
EXHORTATION TO THE ‘AQIL2 


It is incumbent upon the ‘Agi that he should direct his energy 
only to the next world, preparing for it the provisions of piety, 
and not trusting this world which is a world of passage and 
not of settlement. He should begin with training his character, 
sensing its good qualities and purifying it from whatsoever 
alienates it from Allah (may he remain high!), such as bodily 
passion, greed for worldly possessions, anger, revenge, ill-temper, 
pride over others, and self-regard—all of which stand as a screen 
between him and the knowledge of his Creator (may he remain 
high!). And if he is thus screened from the knowledge of his 
Creator, he then becomes a victim to evil habits. 

On the other hand, if the worshiper makes his chief ambition 
and desire the religion of Allah and the fear of him, holding fast 
to his commandments, abiding by his laws and turning his back 
upon what he has forbidden, then shall the Lord (may he remain 
high!) accord him success, bestow upon him his wisdom, and 
enlighten his heart rendering it like a polished mirror in which 
the divine facts are reflected. For wickedness, feebleness, evil 
whisperings and corruption lie dormant in the innermost part of 


1 Al-Sayyid ‘Abdullah, the last great commentator of the Druze religion, 
died in 1480 A.D.; and his tomb in ‘Abayh, Lebanon, is annually visited by 
thousands of believers. 

2 Singular of ‘Ugqqal = enlightened, initiated, wise. See supra, p. 42. 


it, then “l wickedness chee is aa ee z 
exterminated—just as when the light of the sun shines, the r 
of the planets i is eclipsed and Bs put oe — 


qualities appear and reveal themselves in | the same 
stars reveal themselves when the sun sets. _ 1s co: ac 


and to bend every effort to tees the company of ae 
are useful and godly, so that they may add to his enlight« 
He should also imagine that Allah (may he remain high!) 

him, watching over him, and not departing from him for one 
wink of the eye. At all times should he be mentionin llah’s 
name, waiting upon him, and not neglecting him for one 


He should fear no blame in the pune of truth, ae i 


pate 


following of the path of right guidance which leads t 
on the last day. a 


1 Arabic ma‘ rifah = knowledge. 


beseech, and I shall respond; be content, and I shall enrich thee; 
ask and I shall give.” ! 


HI 
PRAYER. 


O my God! Here is thy runaway slave returning to thy door, 
thy disobedient slave coming back for reconciliation, thy sinning 
slave bringing to thee his excuse. Pardon me by thy indulgence, 
accept me through thy bounty, and look unto me with thy 
mercy. O God! Forgive me my past iniquity, and guard me 
against committing iniquity in the remaining days of my life; for 
in thy hand is all good, and unto us thou are compassionate 
and merciful. 


IV 
PRAYER TO BE RECITED BEFORE SLEEP 


In thy name, my Lord, I lay down my side; and in thy name, 
I lift it up. Protect me, O my God, against thy punishment on 
the day in which thou gatherest together thy creatures. In thy 
name, O Lord, I live and I die; and in thee I seek refuge against 
the evil of my own self, as well as against the evil of every 
creeping creature subject to thy control. Thou art the first: so 
before thee there is naught. Thou art the last: so after thee 
there is naught. O my Lord! Thou hast made my soul, and 
thou protectest it; thine is its death, and thine is its life. If thou, 
therefore, causest it to die, wilt thou pardon it; and if thou 
permittest it to live, wilt thou preserve it? 

O my Lord! I beseech thee for health. I pray thee to awaken 
me at the hour that is most agreeable to thee, and to use me in 
the kind of work that is most acceptable to thee. Let thy grace 
draw me nigh unto thy favor, and alienate me from thy wrath. 
As I pray thee, grant my request; as I seek thy pardon, forgive 
me; and as I call upon thee, answer my prayer. “In the name 
of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate.” 


1 This extract and the following prayers suggest Moslem Sufi origin. 


“Allah! There is no god but he, the living, the eternal. 
Slumber doth not seize him, nor sleep. His is whatsoever is in 
the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that can 
intercede with him but by his own permission? He knoweth 
what hath been before them and what shall be after them; 
yet naught of his knowledge shall they grasp, save what he 
willeth. His throne reacheth over the heavens and the earth, 
and the upholding of both burdeneth him not—and he is the 
high, the great!” ! 


1 Koran 2: 256. 


ee > 
To9 


INDEX 


Aaron 37 

‘Abayh 9, 52 

‘Abd-al-Malik 22 

‘Abdullah ibn-al-Mahdi 38 
‘Abdullah al-Tantikhi 52, 53, 71 
Abraham 37, 65 

Acre 15 

Adam 36, 37; 39 

al-Aghani 42 

Ajawid 42 

‘Alayh 9, 52 

Aleppo 3, 5, 10 

tal 4027, 28; 30, 365. 372 47 
‘Ali-Ilahi 28 

‘Ali-Ilahis 15, 53 

Allah 40, 47, 48, 59-63, 71, 72, 74 
American University of Beirut 3 
Antioch 3, 6, 10 

‘Aqil 71, 72 

Arabia 8, 11, 21 

ras O14, 15, 17, 22, 23 
Aramaisms 17 

Arislans 5, 22 

Armenia 3, 15 

Armenians 41 

Asas (minor prophet) 37 
Ashab al-Tanasukh 45 
al-Asrar, epistle 49 

Assassins 3, 27 

Assyria 1 

ibn-al-Athir 13, 23, 26 
‘Ayn-Darah 8 


Ba‘aqlin 6, 9 
Babylonia 39 
Baghdad 29 


al-Baghdadi 28, 32, 40, 45 

Baha’-al-Din, al-Muqtana 11, 12, 20, 
3% 34, 35> 38, 45, 49, 53, 68 

Baha’i 30 

Baha’is 48 

Baha’ism 30 

Ba‘labakk 22, 23 

al-Baladhuri 22 

al-Bar 20, 30, 57 

Barham Amavand 32 

Bar-Hebraeus 26 

Bashan 2 

Bashir, al-Amir 2, 7, 8 

Batiniyyah 19, 32, 36, 40 

Baysur 9 

Beirut 3, 5-7, 9 

Bektashis 15 

Belfort (Qal‘at al-Shaqif) 2 

Bell, Gertrude 14, 17 

Benjamin of Tudela 13, 14, 47, 52 

Bible 2, 31 

Blavatsky, Madame 24 

Blochet, E. 32 


Brahman 46 
“Brethren of Purity” (Ikhbwan al-Safa) 
33> 35, 36 


British 8, 15, 16 
Browne, E.G. 41 
Browning 31 
Buddhism 41 
Buddhist 41, 42 


Cairo 1, 31 
Casanova, Paul 49 
China 46 

Christ 1, 39 


Christian 4 

Christianity 3, 38, 39, 41, 48, 50, 68 
Christians 8, 15, 29, 30, 70 
Churchill, Col. 50 
pseudo-Clementines 35 
Commander of the Believers 59-62 
Commandeurs du Liban 16 

Conder, Lt.-Col. 50 

Constantine I 66 

Constantine II 66 

Constantine VIII 11, 64, 66 
Constantinople 6, 7, 9, 11 

Copts 29 

Crusaders 3, 6, 21 

Crusades 2, 5 

Cuthites 15 

Cyrus 17 


Damascus 5, 8, 9 

Daniel 37 

Darazi 12, 18, 19, 40, 50, §3, 54 

Darazites 53, 54 

Dayr-al-Qamar 9 

Derusaiaioi 17 

al-Dhahabi 11, 26 

“ Disappearance,” see ghaybah 

Dissimulation, see taquyyah 

Djevid Bey 48 

Docetae 39 

Dog River 9 

Domneh Jews 48 

Dreux, comte de 15 

Druids 16 

Druze 46, 49 

Druzes 1-3, 5, 6, 8-11, 13-18, 20-22, 
24, 28-30, 38, 41, 45-49, §2-54 

Druzes Réunis 16 

Druzism: 35 4, 9) 484 39. s22eed ee 
30, 395 40, 41, §1 

Dussaud 16 


Edessa 2 
Egypt 2, 6, 8, 11, 29 


76 


Elijah 31 

Encyclopaedia Britannica 17 
Encyclopaedia of Islam 13-14, 445 54 
Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics 35 
Enoch 37 

Esarhaddon 15 

Essenes 39 

Eucharist 64, 68 

Evangile 66 


Fakhr-al-Din ibn-Ma‘n 2, 6, 7, 16, 21 
Fatimite Caliphate 30 
Fatimite dynasty 20 
Faytus, son of Qilatiis 64 
Ferdinand I 7, 16 
abu-al-Fida 13, 26 
al-Fibrist 39, 41 
Florence 2 

Florentines 7 

France 16 

Franks 2, 5, 6 
Freemasonry 15 

French 2, 15, 17, 44 


Garrett, Robert 25 

Genesis 39 

Gharb 5 

ghaybah (“ disappearance ”) 31, 67 
Gibbon 27 

God 29, 30, 33-36, 41, 47, 50, 64, 73 
Godfrey of Bouillon 16 

Gnostic 21 

Gnosticism 35, 36, 41, §4 

Gospel of John 64-66 

Gospel of Matthew 69, 70 
Goldziher, Ignacz 26, 29, 32, 42 


al-Ha@’itiyyah 45 

halalij, iblilij 20 

al-Hallaj 29 

al-Hakim 11, 12, 18, 19, 25-31, 33, 
34, 41, 46, 49, 50, §7-61 

Hakim-God 26, 51, 66, 68 


Pe hramieah £2, ¥2,-T9, 20, 29, 34, 35; 
HO, 41, 44, 45, 49-53, 58 
_-Hamzites 53, 54 
_ Harith ibn-Tarmah 36 
_ Hasbayya 9 
_ d’Hautpoul, Beaufort 9 
>  Hawran 2, 6-10, 14 
a -Haydar, al-Amir 21 
= ibn-Hazm 28, 40, 45 
~ Herodotus 17 
 -Hijaz 7, 8, 22 
_ -Hims 3, 22 
 al-Himyari, al-Sayyid 45 
— Hindoos 15 
») 4 -al-bieah 21, 22 - 
Hiram, King 16 
Hittites 15 
Hivites 15 
_ Holy Sepulchre 26 


Iblis (devil) 49, 51, 68 
Ibrahim Pasha 2, 8, 25, 48 


_ Imams 27, 37, 38) 59 
— India 3. 
eee Indian 32, 46 
Trg 11, 19, 21, 22, 39 

Isaiah 31, 32 
Isa ibn-Yisuf. See Jesus 
al-Ishagi 13 
Isma‘il ibn-Muhammad 38 
Isma‘iliyyah 3, 25, 27, 30-32, 37, 38, 
40s 42 


Nie ee 


Islam 3, 6, 7, 25, 26, 28, 29, 39-42, 


47, 48, $0, $25 $9 
Ituraeans 14 


al-Jabal al-A‘la 9, 10 

Jabal al-Duriiz 6, 14 
Jabriyyah 47 

al-Jahiz 42 

Janizaries 6 

Japanese 14 

ibn-al-Jawzi 45, 46 
Jerusalem 26 

Jesus (‘Isa ibn-Yusuf) 37, 39, 64-67 
Jews 15, 29, 64, 69 

John the Evangelist 68 
Judaeo-Christian sects 4, 29 
Judaism 1, 24, 38 

Jubhal (uninitiate) 42 
Jurjus al-Makin 12, 26 
Junblats 22 


Kafra 10 

Kasrawan 6 
al-Kaysaniyyah 45 
ibn-Khaldin 13, 29 
khalwah (place of seclusion) 49 
khalwahs 53 

Khandy (Ceylon) 47 
ibn-Khallikan 26 
Khariites 48 

Khurasan 11 

Kitab al-Nagd al-Khafi 40 
Koran 25, 40, 47, 48, 66 
Kurdish 21, 22 

Kurdistan 3 

Kurds 22 


al-Laja 8 

Lamaism 24 

Lamartine 15, 16 

Latin Kingdom 2 

League of Nations 4 

Lebanon 1-3, 5-11, 13-15, 17, 21; 
44, 46, 49, 52, 53 


anti-Lebanon 1 Muhammad ibn-‘Abdullah 38 

“Left Wing ” (“Follower”) 34 Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha 8 

“Licensed ” (Ma’dhan) 36, 37 Muhammad ibn-Isma‘il 37 

Logos 35 Muhammadiyyah 39 

Luristan 53 Muhammad, the Prophet 7, 11, 36, 
Luschan, Felix von 14, 15 38, 50, §9, 65 


al-Mukhtarah 9 
Magian 39 al-Muqattam 31 
Magians, see Majas al-Muqtana. See Baha’-al-Din 
Mahdi 31, 32, 66 Mustafa Arislan 48 
Majias (Magians) 23, 32, 46 al-Mustarshid, Caliph 6 
al-Makin. See Jurjus al-Mutawakkil 27 
Mamluk Sultans 6 al-Mu‘tazilah 33, 34 


al-Ma’miin, 33 Muwabbhidin. See Unitarians 


Ma‘n 5, 6 

Mandaean 31 Nablus (Shechem) 1 
Mandaeanism 39 Naples 7 

Mandaeans 46 Napoleon 2, 8 

Mani 39 al-Nasir, al-Malik 6 

Ma‘ns 6, 7, 22 Natiq (legislating prophet) 37 
Manichaean 4, 21, 24, 39, 46, 50 Nazarenes 39 

Manichaeans 23, 39 Near East 3, 11 

Manichaeism 54 Neo-Platonic 4, 32, 35, 41 
Manuscripts, Druze 11, 25, 28, 36, 39  Neo-Platonism 36, 41, 50, 54 
al-Maqrizi 45 New Testament 35, 39 
Marcionite 38 Nicholson, R. A. 41 
Maronite 8, 48 Niebuhr 14 

Maronites 2, 15 Noah 37, 65 

al-Matn 9 Nir-al-Din, Sultan 6, 21 
Maundrell 16 Nusayri 45, 52 

al-Mawsil 22 Nusayriyyah 3, 15, 23, 28, 30, 36, 
Mazdakian 46 45, $3 

Medicis 2 

Mesopotamia 21 “ Opposer” (Dudd) 34-36 
Messiah 29, 30, 32, 65-70 Oppenheim, von 14 

Michael the Paphlagonian 11 Oriental Christian sects 4 
Moab 2 

Montfort (Qal‘at Qurayn) 2 Palestine 1, 9, 10, 15 

Moses 29, 31, 37) 46, 65 Paraclete 65 

Moslems 2, 59 Parfit, Canon 15 - 

Mt. Carmel 9, 10 Persia 1; 3, Ils 195 305 33 
Me. Hermon ty 25:43 7,018 Persian 18-23, 32, 33 


Mufawwadiyyah 36 Persians 15 


Pharaoh 46 al-Shidyaq 21 
Pharisees 69 Shihab 7 
Philo 40 Shihabs 7 
“Pioneer” (Mukasir or Nagib) 36, 37 Shi‘ah 23, 25, 27, 28, 30-33, 40, 47; 
Plato 37 48, 54 
Pocoke 15-17, 49 Shi‘ism 29 
Pompey 14 Shi‘ite 4, 19, 26, 28, 32, 47, 48 
“Propagator” (Da‘t) 36, 37 al-Shuf 9 
Psalter 66 al-Shuwayfat 9 
Pythagorean 30, 38, 46 Sidon 5, 6, 7, 47 
Simon 37 


Sitt-al-Mulk 31 
Solomon’s temple 16 
Stavriote Greeks 48 
Sublime Porte 2, 9 


Qadarites 32, 47 

Qadariyyah. See Qadarites 
ibn-al-Qalanisi 26 

al-Qaramitah 27, 32, 35, 40, 42, 54 


E Qars (Ardaghan) 28 Sufi neg Ae 
: Qaysite 10 Sufis 42 

a ; Sufism 41 
j Qaysites 8 : 


Sultan Pasha al-Atrash 8 
Sur (Tyre) 22 
‘ : al-Suytti, 13 
rajah (“return”) 31, 33, 46 OYTid i456, 8-11, 13, 155-17),19,-21; 
| “Return,” see raj‘ah ravecee 
“Right Wing” (“Precedent”) 34 Syzygy 35 
j al-Ruidhrawari 26 


. Quraysh 7 


al-Tabari 21 


al-Saba’iyyah 28 Tadmur (Palmyra) 7 
. Sacy, Silvestre de 25, 29, 49 ibn-Taghri-Birdi 18 
Sadhus 42 Tahtajis 15 
y Safad 6, 9, 10 Talhtg 22 
4 Saint-Pierre, Puget de 16 Taniikhs 5, 21, 22 
; Saladin 7 tagiyyah (dissimulation) 14, 22, 24, 
BS - Salonika 48 47, 48 
2 Samaritans I, 15, 24 ibn-Taymiyyah 41 
: Samit (“silent”) 37 Templars 13 
Sargon 1 Theosphist, The 24 
; Sarracent 13 Torah 66 
9 E Selim I 6 Tripoli 3, 6 
t al-Shahrastani 28, 29, 40, 45, 46 Turks 2, 6, 48 
4 al-Shalmaghani 29 Tuscany 7, 16 
: Rees) 3151.40 0G} 
Sheikhs 42 Unitarian 46, 57 
Shibli al-‘Aryan 8 Unitarians (Muwabhidin) 33, 34, 58 


5 ae ee Te ee Se 


eee ee 


bee oar 


oie 


United States 10 
| “Universal Mind” 34 
“Universal Soul” 34 
‘Ugqgal (initiate) 42 


Vaux, Carra de 32 
Vloten, van 29 
Volney 16, 54 


Wadi-al-Taym 1, 5, 7-10, 18, 19, 21, 
23, 28, 44 | 

~Wahhabi 41 

“Word,” the 34, 35. 


Sketch Map of 


Syria and Palestine 


Jordan Rwer 


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